The AAMC issued a statement opposing the provisions in the calendar year (CY) 2027 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) proposed rule that go beyond the annual payment rate update and drastically reduce hospital payment. In its July 2 statement, the association warned that the changes “would have devastating and enduring effects on access to care for patients across the country, noting, “these payment proposals disproportionately affect organizations that care for many of the nation’s most medically complex patients, threatening access to critical services and leading to worsening health outcomes.”
In the proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposes to increase the base payment rates by 2.4% for items and services paid under OPPS for CY 2027. The agency is also proposing to accelerate the reduction in OPPS payment rates for nondrug items and services to offset lump sum payments previously paid to 340B hospitals from 0.5 percentage points over 16 years to 3 percentage points over three years. Additionally, the CMS proposes to expand its so-called site-neutral payment policies to excepted off-campus hospital outpatient departments for imaging without contrast services and reduce payment for 340B-acquired drugs to the drug’s average sales price minus 33.4%.
The rule also addresses implementation of a provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 (P.L. 119-75, PDF) that requires hospitals to apply for a separate National Provider Identifier for each off-campus department and submit a provider-based attestation for each location. The agency also included proposals to continue to phase out the inpatient only list, expand prior authorization for certain services, and requested feedback on hospital price transparency requirements. The CMS also proposes changes to and feedback on future policies for the Outpatient Quality Reporting and Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting Programs.
The CMS also announced the closure of Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago and the redistribution of graduate medical education full-time equivalent (FTE) positions through Section 5506 of the Affordable Care Act. The agency prioritizes redistribution of FTEs to hospitals that are geographically close to the closed hospital. Hospitals interested in applying for FTEs from Weiss Memorial Hospital have until October 13 to submit applications.
Comments on the proposed rule are due Aug. 31.