California Surgery Center's Medicare Contract Canceled Over Misunderstanding

Ambulatory Surgery Center of Zeiter Eye in Stockton, Calif., received a notice that its Medicare contracts had been canceled last week, after CMS visited the surgeons' old facility and found it abandoned, according to a Record Net report.

The surgery center visited by CMS, operated for many years by the Zeiter family of ophthalmologists, was closed five years ago when the surgeons decided to open a more modern eye surgery center. The new surgery center remains an authorized, active Medicare provider.

The old surgery center is currently used to store surgical equipment for an upcoming humanitarian mission to Afghanistan, according to the report.

An official with the federal Medicare program who issued the public notice of termination said the action has not resulted in any access-to-care issues for Medicare beneficiaries. According to the report, the new center performs 5,000 surgeries annually, the majority on Medicare patients.

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