ASC Coding, Billing & Collections

A study, commissioned by Change Healthcare, found 40-plus states are pursuing value-based payment programs, with 15 multipayer initiatives throughout the states.

Touting 900-plus relationships with value-based provider organizations and 51,500 physicians in value-based agreements, Humana released an internal study showing the results of its value-based agreements.

Workers Compensation Research Institute published a report analyzing whether Delaware's fee schedule changes lowered medicals expense across various sites, including ASC facility fees for surgical procedures.

An anonymous source said more than 200,000 people selected a plan through the ACA on the first day of open enrollment, Nov. 1, The Hill reports.

After seeing third quarter 2017 revenues decrease 11 percent year-over-year, Humana announced it would eliminate 2,700 positions, Forbes reports.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma addressed the National Association of Medicaid Directors earlier this week, outlining the Trump Administration's stance on Medicaid benefits and what to expect in the future, according to the Washington Post.

On Nov. 2, CMS received the 2018 final payment rule, providing a 1.2 percent increase in ASC reimbursement next year. The final rule also addressed several issues pertaining to orthopedic procedures in ASCs, including total joint replacements and spine procedures.

When former HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, issued a proposed rule in August to cancel and scale back several Medicare bundled payment initiatives, it may have sounded like a death knell for bundles.

A survey, conducted by Mercer, reports although employer-sponsored health insurance rates are rising, increases are nowhere proportional to individual plans, the PlanSponsor reports.

CMS released the 2018 final payment rule for ASCs and hospital outpatient departments, both of which received lower reimbursement increases than proposed in July, according to ASCA.