At WSHA’s request, seven members of the Washington congressional delegation have signed a letter urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to adopt “flexible” rules as it implements a major change in how it provides payments for services provided in off-campus, provider-based facilities.
The rules, which are expected to be included in the Medicare outpatient prospective payment system rule in July, will implement a provision of the 2015 budget that sets payment at the Medicare physician fee schedule rate for all services provided in an off-campus, provider-based facility, beginning Jan. 1, 2017.
This applies to facilities that were not seeing Medicare patients as of Nov. 2, 2015, which was the date of the budget deal enactment. WSHA thanks Sen. Cantwell and Reps. DelBene, Heck, Beutler, Kilmer, Reichert and Newhouse, who have each signed the letter. WSHA strongly opposed the budget deal provision and has strongly opposed other so-called site neutral payment policies. (Claudia Sanders)
