The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended ambulatory surgery centers receive no updates to their facility fees in 2016, according to an Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society report.
Here are five things to know about the updates:
1. In addition to no facility fee increase, MedPAC staff recommended facilities be subject to "some form of Medicare cost reporting."
2. MedPAC argues increases aren't needed because access to ASC services continue to increase and current access to capital is adequate.
3. Without cost reporting, MedPAC feels it won't be possible to establish update factors truly reflecting ASCs' cost structure.
4. The report acknowledged troubling trends due to current payment methods, including:
• Surgical volume is increasing faster in hospital outpatient departments than ASCs
• The patient migration from HOPDs to ASCs is no longer occurring
Hospital outpatient departments still receive higher payment than ASCs for the same outpatient procedures.
5. MedPAC is taking staff recommendations this month and will make final recommendations later this year.