Medicare program; assistants at surgery--Health Care Financing Administration. Final rule.

These regulations amend the interim final Medicare rules published on October 1, 1982, that implement section 113 of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-248). Those regulations provide that Medicare will pay on a reasonable charge basis for the services of a physician who actively assists the physician in charge of a case in performing a surgical procedure (i.e., an assistant at surgery) in teaching hospitals only under certain specific conditions. These regulations add as a result of public comments a new condition under which assistants at surgery may be reimbursed. They also clarify the rules for determining the amount of payment for services furnished by assistants at surgery in all settings.