The AHA Friday urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to protect patients' access to care when it implements Sec. 603 of the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act.
P.L. 114-74, the Bipartisan Budget Act, creates site-neutral payments for new provider-based hospital outpatient departments – those that come into being after the Nov. 2 enactment of the legislation. Beginning Jan. 1, 2017, these departments would not be eligible for reimbursements under the outpatient prospective payment system, but would instead be eligible for reimbursements from either the ambulatory surgical center or physician payment systems.