Committee Passes Bill to Eliminate Spinal Pass-Through

By Greg Jones, Western Bureau ChiefThe California Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations on Wednesday passed a measure that would eliminate a provision allowing hospitals to separately bill carriers for the cost of hardware used in spinal fusion procedures.Hospitals are paid a flat fee for spinal fusion procedures according to diagnostic-related group (DRG) codes, and surgeons bill separately for their services. Hospitals are reimbursed at 120% of the Medicare rate for the appropriate DRG.Additionally, California Code of Regulations 9792.1(c)(7) states that implantable hardware for...