On July 2, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued their Calendar Year (CY) 2027 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center (OPPS/ASC) Payment Systems Proposed Rule.

The rule includes a proposed 2.4% payment update for hospital outpatient departments, as well as proposals to reduce payments for 340B acquired drugs, expand site neutral payment policy to certain imaging services, continued phase out of the inpatient only (IPO) list, changes to hospital quality programs, and more.

In a press release, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said, "Medicare beneficiaries deserve a program that pays for the right care, in the right setting, at the right time." He added, "This proposed rule focuses squarely on patient affordability by strengthening our utilization management tools, aligning drug payments with actual acquisition costs, and removing site-of-care disparities that have unnecessarily driven up costs for millions of seniors."

CMS is accepting comments on the proposed rule through August 31.

• Press release, Fact sheet, Proposed rule

Additional information is available in the WCEY Health Alert, attached below.