June 2024 MedPAC Report to Congress

In the June 2024 report, MedPAC (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) recommended that Congress implement site-neutral payment policies for certain services in hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs), aligning payments with those in ambulatory surgical centers and physician offices. This recommendation stems from MedPAC’s ongoing effort to address payment disparities between different care settings for the same services, with the goal of improving efficiency and potentially reducing costs within the Medicare program. ASE opposes the integration of site-neutral payment policy, as it would ignore the higher operational costs and complexity of care needed for the provision of echocardiograms and could lead to a 76% cut to reimbursement for cardiovascular imaging services.