News

American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates approved a resolution to back legislation to remove certain high-cost supplies and equipment from the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and create a new system to address the issue.

Resolution 115 was introduced by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and co-sponsored by SIR, the American Association of Clinical Urologists, American College of Cardiology, American Vein & Lymphatic Society, American Venous Forum, and the Outpatient Endovascular and Interventional Society the June AMA House of Delegates meeting in Chicago from June 6–11.

For several years, the AMA Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) has recommended the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) create Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes to identify and pay for high-cost disposable supplies priced more than $500, but CMS has consistently declined to do so. The groups that sponsored the resolution hope to remove the reimbursement mechanism from MPFS and require CMS to separately pay for certain services containing high-cost supplies priced more than $500, as well as certain services containing high-cost equipment.