Kaiser Health News Article Raises Questions About New Medicare Site of Service Policy

In an article published March 23, 2021, Kaiser Health News (KHN) questioned the impact of the new CMS policy allowing numerous surgical procedures to be performed in outpatient locations or ambulatory surgical centers. For 2021, CMS allowed more than 200 procedures, including dozens of spine surgical procedures, to be moved from the Inpatient Only (IPO) list.

The KHN article describes the transition and impacts on hospitals that face potential reduced reimbursements and patients who face potentially higher Medicare co-pays. The article looks at several health systems, including the Hospital for Special Surgery and Langone NYU Hospital System in New York and Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California.

See the full article here: https://khn.org/news/article/trump-medicare-inpatient-only-rule-risky-surgery-procedures-patient-cost-burden-catch-22/