Federal Trade Commission Files Suit Against Private Equity–Funded Practice On September 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the filing of a lawsuit against a Texas anesthesia group that was backed or owned by a private equity firm. The suit claims the anesthesia group (U.S. Anesthesia Partners) and the private equity firm advising and...
Medicare Spending Slowed Significantly in Recent Years In early September 2023, newspaper articles, including one in the The New York Times on September 4, 2023, noted that Medicare spending slowed dramatically in the decade from 2010-2020. The articles were the result of a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) describing the trends in Medicare...
Major Payer Announces Change in Payment Policies for Interoperative Monitoring ISASS was informed in early September that Cigna Health has revised their policies on paying for the interoperative monitoring referred to as neurophysiological monitoring. Cigna had previously not allowed reimbursement when billed as performed with cervical spine surgeries. In August 2023, ISASS Coding and...
ISASS Submits Public Comments on 2024 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS)/Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) On September 11, 2023, ISASS submitted comments in response to the July 31, 2023, publication of the proposed rule for payment policies for the OPPS/ASC settings issued by CMS. In the comment letter, ISASS advocated for a higher payment for allogenic...