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.”
