Legislation introduced in US House of Representatives promotes Medicare patients’ access to ASCs

The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) announced its support for new legislation titled The ASC Quality and Access Act of 2019 (H.R. 4350). US Representatives Devin Nunes (R-CA) and John Larson (D-CT) introduced the legislation in the US House of Representatives on September 17.

Provisions in the legislation would

·   require use of the same inflation update for ASCs and hospital outpatient departments (HOPD);

·   require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to publish relevant quality data in a way that allows patients to compare quality across sites of service;

·   statutorily require CMS to add an ASC representative to its Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment, which makes decisions that affect both HOPD and ASC facility fees and eligible procedures;

·   and require CMS to disclose which criteria trigger the exclusion of a procedure from the ASC approved list.

“The sponsors of the ASC Quality and Access Act recognize the importance of decreasing Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs and putting the program on more stable footing,” said Ambulatory Surgery Center Association Chief Executive Officer William Prentice. “This bill addresses those priorities by making a permanent fix to Medicare’s reimbursement structure that will increase our seniors’ access to the high-value care provided in ASCs, while also increasing transparency so they and their families have the information they need to be informed decision makers.”