The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is calling for a 0.6 percent increase in payment for ambulatory surgery center services in 2010 as part of a draft recommendation to Congress. The second part of the recommendation calls for ASCs to submit cost and quality data "that will allow for an effective evaluation of the adequacy of ASC payment rates," according to the transcript of a Jan. 8 public meeting of the independent congressional agency.

In his discussion of the topic at the meeting, Dan Zabinski, PhD, noted that "if you only examine changes that have occurred to ASC payment rates, you could come away with a very bleak picture of their payment adequacy," but "if you only examine the empirical trends on the growth in the number of Medicare-certified ASCs, the volume of services provided to Medicare beneficiaries in ASCs and Medicare spending on ASCs, you could come away with a very favorable view of" their payment adequacy.

Dr. Zabinski said Medpac based the 0.6 percent figure on "the difference between the most recent published estimates of input price increases, which is measured by the CPI-U, as required by law, and the Commission's productivity goal."

Also speaking at the meeting, John McManus of the ASC Association told attendees he was "heartened to hear the Commission recognize that the CPI is not an adequate index," and he recommended that MedPac consider "using the market basket of HOPD, since that's a better reflection of ASC costs."

—Irene Tsikitas