0.6% Medicare Increase Recommended

MedPAC recommended a 0.6% inflation update for Medicare ASC 2011 payment rates in its March 2010 report to Congress. MedPAC does not have an official role in setting the inflation update factor, but its recommendations are influential with Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In the absence of Congressional action, the projected inflation update for ASC Medicare payment rates for 2011 would be 1.4%. MedPAC did not base its recommendation upon a specific factor. The report also recommends that ASCs report cost and quality data.

Download a copy of the relevant section of the report at www.ascassociation.org/march2010.pdf.

For more information on MedPAC's recommendation and the ASC community's advocacy efforts, see page 48 of the January/February 2010 issue of ASC Focus.