Medicare To Bundle Outpatient Hospital Payments; Proposed Rule Includes Caps On Partial Hospitalization Reimbursement

On July 8, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule (CMS-1601-P) that would revise the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS), which is currently a hybrid of a prospective payment system and a fee-for-service system in 2014. The Medicare ambulatory surgical center payment would also be included in this new payment methodology. The proposed rule, “Medicare And Medicaid Programs: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment And Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems And Quality Reporting Programs; Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, Etc.” updates Medicare payment policies and payment rates for hospital outpatient . . .