MedPAC has approved a recommendation that ambulatory surgery centers receive a 0% increase in payment rates for 2014, according to an ASCA report.
MedPAC also approved a recommendation that would direct ASCs to report cost data. MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress and HHS on Medicare payment policies, patient access and quality of care.
The commission also recommended a 1 percent increase in payment rates for hospitals in 2014. The commission acknowledged that the CPI-U inflation index was not an accurate indicator of inflation for ASCs, as ASCA has said repeatedly in the past in letters to the commission. Despite noting this fact, MedPAC declined to recommend any changes at this time.
"MedPAC is nothing if not predictable when it comes to cost reporting," said ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice in an ASCA release. "As we have pointed out to the commissioners in a recent letter, however, so long as the ASC conversion factor remains around 60% of that of the hospital conversion factor, no cost report can refute the fact that Medicare is paying 73 percent more to another site of service for the same procedure performed on a patient with similar risk scores."
Learn more about ASCA.
MedPAC also approved a recommendation that would direct ASCs to report cost data. MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress and HHS on Medicare payment policies, patient access and quality of care.
The commission also recommended a 1 percent increase in payment rates for hospitals in 2014. The commission acknowledged that the CPI-U inflation index was not an accurate indicator of inflation for ASCs, as ASCA has said repeatedly in the past in letters to the commission. Despite noting this fact, MedPAC declined to recommend any changes at this time.
"MedPAC is nothing if not predictable when it comes to cost reporting," said ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice in an ASCA release. "As we have pointed out to the commissioners in a recent letter, however, so long as the ASC conversion factor remains around 60% of that of the hospital conversion factor, no cost report can refute the fact that Medicare is paying 73 percent more to another site of service for the same procedure performed on a patient with similar risk scores."
Learn more about ASCA.