Five Things to Know About Medicare Site-Neutral Payment Reforms

(By Zachary Levinson, Tricia Neuman, and Scott Hulver for The Kaiser Family Foundation Published: Jun 14, 2024)

Amid rising concerns about health care spending and voters’ worries about health care affordability, there is growing, bipartisan interest in proposals to align Medicare payments for outpatient services across care settings, otherwise known as “site neutral” payments. The goal of this approach would be for Medicare to pay the same rate for the same service, whether it is provided in a hospital outpatient department (HOPD), ambulatory surgical center (ASC), or freestanding physician office, subject to patient safety and quality safeguards. Private payers could also achieve savings if they adopt similar payment policies. Policymakers have been focusing recently on site-neutral payment reform in response to concerns about health care costs and the rapid pace of consolidation, given that the differences in payment across settings for the same service create a financial incentive for hospitals to acquire physician practices. Continue reading here…

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