SOS: Sustaining Outpatient Services Act

S 1849, the SOS: Sustaining Outpatient Services Act, changes Medicare payment rules for certain off-campus outpatient services provided by hospitals. It directs Medicare to pay for these services using the same system as hospital outpatient departments, starting in 2024, but only for services where a specific physician specialty’s total Medicare payments were under $2 million in the previous year. This directly affects hospitals operating off-campus outpatient departments that meet this spending threshold. The key mechanism adjusts how Medicare calculates payments for qualifying services, ensuring they are covered under the hospital outpatient payment structure rather than separate physician billing rules.