On Aug. 27 the AASM sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) outlining our concerns about proposed payment cuts to sleep medicine services in the 2014 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule. The letter urges CMS to reverse these payment cuts in the final rule so that sleep medicine physicians can continue to provide appropriate care to Medicare patients.
CMS has proposed a substantial cut of 5 percent in 2014 to global payment for polysomnography codes 95810 and 95811, following cuts of more than 15 percent to these codes over the past three years. The AASM strongly opposes these cuts, which will make it difficult for sleep centers to cover the costs of providing diagnostic testing for Medicare patients. If the cuts to global polysomnography payment are implemented, some sleep physicians may be forced to opt-out of Medicare or stop accepting new Medicare patients. The AASM asserts that by implementing such low payment for sleep services, CMS is effectively prohibiting Medicare patients from receiving the care they need.
