ASA Expresses Concerns about New Medicare Joint Replacement Payment Bundle

On Tuesday, September 8, ASA submitted formal comments to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expressing concerns about a new proposed payment bundle known as the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Payment Model for Acute Care Hospitals Furnishing Lower Extremity Joint Replacement Services.  The proposal, the first of its kind, would mandate a retrospective bundled payment for all hospital and provider services at approximately 800 hospitals providing lower extremity joint replacement procedures.  In the comments, ASA leadership noted that physician anesthesiologists are well positioned to contribute to multi-disciplinary system improvements, as they are often the single common pathway for all surgical patients across subspecialties. 

Additionally, ASA remarked that it shared CMS’s goal of “identifying and testing models that have the potential to better coordinate clinical needs and optimize outcomes for this patient population.”  However, ASA noted that it has significant concerns regarding the proposed timeline, which does not seem practical or realistic to address the needs of patients or the affected hospitals and providers.

Read ASA’s full comment letter on the proposed rule on Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Payment Model for Acute Care Hospitals Furnishing Lower Extremity Joint Replacement Services.