Bipartisan Congressional letter urges review of Medicare payments for anesthesiology

ASA strongly supported a recent Congressional letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urging a review of Medicare payments for anesthesia services as possibly “misvalued.” In total, 75 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed the letter.

For years anesthesiology has suffered from a Medicare payment disparity. Recent analysis by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicates that Medicare rates are 33 percent of what commercial insurers pay for the same service. Meanwhile, most other physician specialties receive from Medicare 80 percent of commercial rates. This significant gap warrants further examination.

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Congressional sign-on letter to Secretary Sebelius