(a) Statutory basis.

(1) Section 1833(i)(2)(D) of the Act requires the Secretary to implement a revised payment system for payment of surgical services furnished in ASCs. The statute requires that, in the year such system is implemented, the system shall be designed to result in the same amount of aggregate expenditures for such services as would be made if there was no requirement for a revised payment system. The revised payment system shall be implemented no earlier than January 1, 2006, and no later than January 1, 2008. The statute provides that the Secretary may implement a reduction in any annual update for failure to report on quality measures as specified by the Secretary. The statute also requires that, for CY 2011 and each subsequent year, any annual update to the ASC payment system, after application of any reduction in the annual update for failure to report on quality measures as specified by the Secretary, be reduced by a productivity adjustment. There shall be no administrative or judicial review under section 1869 of the Act, section 1878 of the Act, or otherwise of the classification system, the relative weights, payment amounts, and the geographic adjustment factor, if any, of the revised payment system.

(2) Section 1833(a)(1)(G) of the Act provides that, beginning with the implementation date of a revised payment system for ASC facility services furnished in connection with a surgical procedure pursuant to section 1833(i)(1)(A) of the Act, the amount paid shall be 80 percent of the lesser of the actual charge for such services or the amount determined by the Secretary under the revised payment system.

(3) Section 1833(i)(1)(A) of the Act requires the Secretary to specify the surgical procedures that can be performed safely on an ambulatory basis in an ASC.

(4) Section 1834(d) of the Act specifies that, when screening colonoscopies or screening flexible sigmoidoscopies are performed in an ASC or hospital outpatient department, payment shall be based on the lesser of the amount under the fee schedule that would apply to such services if they were performed in a hospital outpatient department in an area or the amount under the fee schedule that would apply to such services if they were performed in an ambulatory surgical center in the same area. Section 1834(d) of the Act also specifies that, in the case of screening flexible sigmoidoscopy and screening colonoscopy services, the payment amounts must not exceed the payment rates established for the related diagnostic services.

(5) Section 1833(a)(1) of the Act requires 100 percent payment for preventive services described in section 1861(ww)(2) of the Act (excluding electrocardiograms) to which the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has given a grade of A or B for any indication or population. Section 1833(b)(1) of the Act also specifies that the Part B deductible shall not apply with respect to preventive services described in section 1861(ww)(2) of the Act (excluding electrocardiograms) to which the USPSTF has given a grade of A or B for any indication or population.

(b) Scope. This subpart sets forth—

(1) The scope of ASC services and the criteria for determining the covered surgical procedures for which Medicare provides payment for the associated facility services and covered ancillary services;

(2) The basis of payment for facility services and for covered ancillary services furnished in an ASC in connection with a covered surgical procedure;

(3) The methodologies by which Medicare determines payment amounts for ASC services.

[72 FR 42545, Aug. 2, 2007, as amended at 75 FR 72264, Nov. 24, 2010; 77 FR 68558, Nov. 15, 2012]