On December 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized policy changes in the Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) final rules which will phase out inpatient-only procedures over the next three years, allowing CMS for the first time to reimburse for those procedures on an outpatient basis. In the short term, this is expected to increase patient access to needed procedures that may otherwise be postponed because of hospitals' limited capacity due to current COVID-19 surges. Effective January 1, 2021, certain procedures will be added to the ASC Covered Procedures List to allow treatment and reimbursement in an ASC rather than a hospital setting.
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