The RVS Update Committee is one of the major reasons behind the flawed reimbursement system:
The RUC has 30 members (the chair only votes in case of a tie) with 23 of its members appointed by “national medical specialty societies.” Meetings are closed to outside observation except by invitation of the chair. Only 3 of the seats rotate on a 2-year basis. Other members have no term limits.
“Seventeen of the permanent seats on the RUC are assigned to a variety of AMA-recognized specialty societies, including those that account for a very small portion of all professional Medicare billing, such as neurosurgery, plastic surgery, pathology, and otolaryngology. Proceedings are proprietary and therefore are not publicly available for review.
