Here are five legislative changes impacting ASCs this month.
Connecticut lawmakers examine 6% ASC tax repeal legislation
Connecticut's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee is examining legislation to repeal a 6 percent tax placed on ASCs in the state. The Connecticut Citizens for Affordable Health Care argues 47 ASCs in Connecticut would be forced to close because of the tax, resulting in deductibles, co-payments and insurance for patients.
Florida passes legislation extending recovery time at ASCs
In February, the Florida House passed various free-market healthcare reform proposals. One proposal extended the time patients can recover at an ASC for up to 24 hours.
CMS proposes its Value-Based Payment Modifier Program for 2016
Starting this year, CMS will apply the value modifier to physician payments under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for physicians with 10 or more eligible professionals, provided one physician submitted a Medicare claims in 2013. Providers failing to meet minimum reporting requirements will have a 2 percent drop in Medicare payment this year.
Medicare to test alternative payment methods for prescription drugs
CMS is seeking comments on various alternative payment approaches for Part B drugs to determine which methods have the highest quality care for the best value. Some of the proposals include lowering the add-on payments from 6 percent to 2.5 percent with an additional $16.80 flat payment and implementing risk-sharing with drug companies.
Obama administration to rate health insurance plans by network size
The Obama administration passed new rules allowing the administration to rate health insurance plans based on their network's size. Although the rules allow payers to sell health plans with narrow provider networks, consumers will be able to see the value of the plans as the government will attach a label listing the breadth of the network for each plan HealthCare.gov sells.
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