Here are five legislative changes impacting the healthcare industry for ASC leaders to note:
The Children's Health Insurance Program was at the forefront of healthcare discussions due to a lack of funding, but the U.S. legislature recently passed a six-year funding measure, ensuring the 9 million children covered under the provision will retain their insurance benefits.
Congress also suspended the medical device tax for two years through its stopgap funding measure. The tax is now set to go into effect in January 2020, if no further action is taken. The suspension will cost the government $3.7 billion in lost taxes.
CMS created a new voluntary inpatient and outpatient bundled payment model, Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced. Participants can receive payment for 32 different clinical episodes in both inpatient and outpatient care. To find out more, click here.
CMS also launched a new data submission system for physicians to submit 2017 performance data for CMS' Quality Payments Program. To find out more, click here.
The New Mexico legislature will introduce new legislation focused on preventing surprise medical bills in early 2018. To learn more, click here.