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In a recent letter from Dr. Alexander Hannenberg to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the ASA urged the Agency to not finalize its proposal to expand the number of hospitals eligible for rural pass-through payments until anesthesiologists are also eligible to receive such payments. The plan, which was included in the Agency’s proposed rule regarding the inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS), would allow certain hospitals that have been “reclassified” as rural hospitals under existing rules, to also be eligible to use Medicare Part A funds to pay for the services of nurse anesthetists.
ASA objected to this expansion until all anesthesia providers were eligible for similar payments and urged CMS to make the regulatory change or recommend that Congress take action to fix the current disparity.
