The senators asked CMS to use the hospital market basket, the index used for payment updates to HOPDs, instead of the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) to update ASC payments in 2011. ASCs are the only healthcare facility to have their payment based on the CPI-U.
Over the last seven years, the relationship between ASC and HOPD payments fell from 86 to 58 percent for identical services. Under the 2011 proposed rule, ASC rates will drop below 56 percent of the hospital rate for the identical service, and it is anticipated that the gap will grow further going forward.
MedPAC acknowledged in March that the CPI-U is an inaccurate mechanism for updating ASC payments, and in June, 32 members of the House of Representatives wrote to CMS pushing for use of the hospital market basket for ASCs. (View the letter from the representatives by clicking here (pdf).)
The ASC Advocacy Committee applauded the efforts of the senators “for their actions to preserve Medicare patients’ access to centers across the country by ensuring appropriate updates to the payment system,” according to a news release from the organization.
“The collective effort of the ASC industry illustrates the power of coming together and speaking with one voice,” said ASCAC Executive Director Marian Lowe, in a news release. “It is through the coordination of federal, state, and local leaders that we can achieve a level playing field for ASCs in federal policy. We are extremely proud of the efforts of all of our stakeholders.”
Read the letter to CMS from the 21 senators (pdf).
Read the ASCAC news release on the senators’ efforts to fix the ASC payment update.
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