Medicare Program: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems; Quality Reporting Programs; Payment for Intensive Outpatient Services in Rural Health Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and Opioid Treatment Programs; Hospital Price Transparency; Changes to Community Mental Health Centers Conditions of Participation, Proposed Changes to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System Medicare Code Editor; Rural Emergency Hospital Conditions of Participation Technical Correction
This proposed rule would revise the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and the Medicare ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment system for calendar year 2024 based on our continuing experience with these systems. In this proposed rule, we describe the changes to the amounts and factors used to determine the payment rates for Medicare services paid under the OPPS and those paid under the ASC payment system. This proposed rule also would update and refine the requirements for the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program, the ASC Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program, and the Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting (REHQR) Program. This proposed rule would also establish payment for certain intensive outpatient services under Medicare, beginning January 1, 2024. In addition, this proposed rule would update and refine requirements for hospitals to make public their standard charge information and enforcement of hospital price transparency. We also propose to codify provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, in Community Mental Health Centers Conditions of Participation (CoPs). We propose to revise the personnel qualifications of Mental Health Counselors and add personnel qualifications for Marriage and Family Therapists in the CMHC CoPs. We also seek comment on separate payment under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) for establishing and maintaining access to a buffer stock of essential medicines to foster a more reliable, resilient supply of these medicines. Finally, we propose to address any future revisions to the IPPS Medicare Code Editor, including any additions or deletions of claims edits, as well as the addition or deletion of ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes to the applicable MCE edit code lists, outside of the annual IPPS rulemakings. Additionally, we propose a technical correction to the Rural Emergency Hospital Conditions of Participation.