CMS Announces Proposed Payment Rates for Surgery Centers and Outpatient Departments

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released its proposed payment rate and policy changes for ambulatory surgery centers and hospital outpatient departments for Jan. 1, 2010, according to a CMS news release.

Under the proposed rules, CMS would continue to expand the procedures Medicare would cover at ASCs, ensuring the beneficiaries had access to outpatient services in all appropriate settings to improve quality and efficiency, according to the release.

Additionally, CMS is proposing a 0.6 percent update to the conversion factor used to determine Medicare payments for ASCs. Total Medicare payments for 2010 for ASCs are estimated to be $3.4 billion.

CMS has also proposed a 2.1 percent market basket update for HOPDs for 2010, an estimated total payment of $31.5 billion under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System, according to the release.

Hospitals that did not participate in the Hospital Outpatient Department Quality Reporting Program or did not successfully meet the quality measures will receive a 2010 update of the annual payment update factor minus 2.0 percentage points, or 0.1 percent, according to the release.

Read the proposed changes to the ASC payment system.

Read the proposed changes to OPPS.

Read the release about the proposed CMS payment and policy changes for 2010.