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On June 26, 2006 the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission approved revisions to its hospital inpatient and outpatient payment systems by adopting a prospective payment system for hospital inpatient, outpatient and ambulatory surgery center payments. Effective October 1, 2006, all inpatient and outpatient services, including procedures performed in ambulatory surgery centers, were to be paid at 140% of the Medicare payment, that is, the Medicare payment rate plus 40%. On September 29, 2006 eight ambulatory surgery centers and the Ambulatory Surgery Association filed suit challenging the revised ambulatory surgery center maximum allowable payments established by the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. |