The ADA, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons led a coalition of dental groups in asking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to add a CDT code for dental surgeries in ambulatory surgical centers to the ASC Covered Procedures List, to help increase access to dental surgeries in those facilities, and then add that code to the final 2023 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System rule on an interim basis allowing for public comment, ADA News reported. The groups' letter to the CMS in support of the proposed HOPPS rule, which does not include the code, said that while it would increase Medicare payments for hospitals for dental procedures that require general anesthesia, which would help to increase access to care, dental rehabilitation and other dental procedures performed in an ASC are not on the CPL, which also is used by public and third-party payers. "Without access to ambulatory surgical centers, dentists are concerned that the current crisis in operating room access for children, the disabled and those with special needs as well as those without timely access to a hospital due to geographic limitations will continue," the letter said.