Medicare outpatient surgery

A new Medicare policy expected to save money for the federal government may end up doing so at the expense of Medicare beneficiaries who may find themselves faced with costs that Medicare previously paid. Under the new policy, selected procedures that Medicare once authorized only when performed on an inpatient basis can now be performed on an outpatient basis.  The underlying rationale for the policy, which took effect on January 1 and will be phased in over the next three years, is that such an approach should foster competition and possibly lower Medicare costs. But some of those procedures still [...]