Under New Cost-Cutting Medicare Rule, Same Surgery, Same Place, Different Bill

(By Susan Jaffe for Kaiser Health News)

A cost-saving change in Medicare launched in the final days of the Trump administration will cut payments to hospitals for some surgical procedures while potentially raising costs and confusion for patients.

For years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services classified 1,740 surgeries and other services so risky for older adults that Medicare would pay for them only when they were admitted to the hospital as inpatients. Under the new rule, the agency is beginning to phase out that requirement and, on Jan. 1, 266 shoulder, spine and other musculoskeletal surgeries were crossed off what’s called the “inpatient-only list.” By the end of 2023, the list — which includes a variety of complicated procedures including brain and heart operations — is scheduled to be gone.  Continue reading the article here…

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

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