Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is recommending ambulatory surgery centers receive a 0.5 percent increase and physicians a 1 percent increase in their 2012 Medicare payment rates.
The increase for ASCs would be concurrent with requiring ASCs to submit cost and quality data, according to MedPAC's annual report to Congress.
MedPAC is recommending Congress increase payment rates for the acute care hospital inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems in 2012 by 1 percent and also suggested Congress require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make adjustments to inpatient payment rates in future years to fully recover all overpayments due to documentation and coding improvements.
Other recommendations for changes to 2012 Medicare rates include an increase of 1 percent for dialysis and eliminating the update to payment rates for skilled nursing facilities.
View the MedPAC Congress report (pdf).
Read more about ASC reimbursement:
- California Ambulatory Surgery Association Fights Proposed Workers' Comp Reductions
- Automatic Physician Fee Cut Will Rise to Almost 30% in 2012
- Surgery Centers Await Federal Rules on Quality Reporting