12/21/2018

CMS Creates Medicare Tool for Patients to Compare ASC and Hospital Outpatient Costs

CMS has launched a new online tool, the Procedure Price Lookup, that allows consumers to compare Medicare payments and copayments for certain procedures that are performed in both hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) and ASCs. The procedure price lookup tool displays national averages for the amount Medicare pays HOPDs and ASCs and the national average copayment amount a beneficiary with no Medicare supplemental insurance would pay the provider.

While the payment amounts would not necessarily be specific to your center or region of Ohio due to fluctuations in reimbursements depending on the area of the nation, this tool is still a great starting point for ASCs to demonstrate the savings to patients for procedures performed in their setting.

This tool resulted as a part of a law passed in 2016 that mandated CMS to develop a tool allowing the public to compare costs between HOPDs and ASCs.