President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-and-spending legislation – the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) – is now law. The legislation has far-reaching implications not only for the federal deficit and tax policy but also for the health care sector. For ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), it presents a mixed bag of short-term relief and long-term uncertainty. Passed on July 3 by the narrowest of margins – a 51-50 Senate vote, with Vice President J.D. Vance breaking the tie, then a 218-214 vote … [Read more...]
From AI Hype to Operational Realities: 9 Quotes That Capture 2025 for ASCs
Since the start of 2025, Ambulatory Surgery Center News has spoken with ASC leaders, investors, advisors and other health care executives about everything from robotics and new technologies, to payer pressures and Medicaid cuts. With the year officially at its midway point on July 2, ASC News wanted to take stock of those conversations and explore some of the comments that have best captured 2025’s first half. Here’s what key ASC voices have said about the year thus far, with context on why … [Read more...]
Physician Services Top $1 Trillion as ASC-Linked Spending Grows
Each year, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary teams with Health Affairs to release a sweeping forecast of national health care spending. The 2025 edition projects another decade of strong growth – with major implications for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) operating at the crossroads of surgical care, cost containment and shifting reimbursement dynamics. The main takeaways: Health care is getting more expensive, growing faster than the overall … [Read more...]
‘We Have a Great Story to Tell, But We Have to Tell It’: ASCA CEO Urges ASC Leaders to Step Up Advocacy
Although Medicare payment rates have not faced major cuts under the new administration so far, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) continue to be underpaid compared to hospitals. That’s according to Bill Prentice, CEO of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA), who recently shared his regulatory outlook at the Arizona Ambulatory Surgery Center Association’s 2025 Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Medicare seems to be OK right now,” Prentice said at the conference. “But we still … [Read more...]
Major Insurers Promise to Ease ASC Payment Pain Point: Prior Authorization
A group of major U.S. health insurers on June 20 announced a slate of voluntary reforms aimed at streamlining the prior-authorization process. The move could eventually reduce administrative headaches for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), which have had to navigate an increasing volume of payer red tape in recent years. The initiative, led by AHIP and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, includes commitments from Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Cigna and dozens of other health plans. The … [Read more...]
ASC Stakeholders Voice Market-Competition Concerns, Ask DOJ Task Force to Cut Red Tape
In March, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched the Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force, an initiative meant to eliminate laws and regulations that “undermine free market competition.” Ambulatory surgery center (ASC) stakeholders are already playing an important role in the task force’s mission. “This Antitrust Division will stand against harmful barriers to competition whether imposed by public regulators or private monopolists,” Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the … [Read more...]
‘Robots Battling Robots’: AI-Driven Audits Put ASCs on Defense
Ambulatory surgery center (ASC) operators should be looking out for anti-kickback violations, documentation lapses and exclusion checks, as administrative claims targeting surgery centers have recently surged. “We’re just seeing an increased focus on program integrity,” health care attorney Robert Saltaformaggio said on the Advancing Surgical Care Podcast. “There are a number of administrative audits being performed – CERT audits, TPE audits, additional documentation requests, UPIC audits. … [Read more...]
CMS Innovation Strategy Teases Focus on Outpatient Care – And Potential Opportunities for ASCs
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and its Innovation Center are doubling down on preventive care while striving to shift care away from the traditional acute care hospital. For ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), that could mean – at least in theory – more opportunities to participate in innovative payment models in the not-too-distant future. On May 13, CMS and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) unveiled their “Making America Healthy Again” … [Read more...]
‘This Bill Makes Costs Fairer for Patients’: Lawmakers, ASC Advocates Rally Around Medicare Beneficiary Co-Pay Fairness Act
Ambulatory surgery center (ASC) leaders are rallying behind new bipartisan legislation that aims to eliminate a cost disparity that advocates of the bill say is driving up expenses for seniors and steering them away from lower-cost surgical settings. If enacted, the Medicare Beneficiary Co-Pay Fairness Act of 2025 would cap Medicare co-payments for procedures performed in ASCs at the same level already applied to hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs). The bill was introduced in the U.S. … [Read more...]
Facility Fees Under Fire: ASC Leaders Warn of Future Fallout
As legislative scrutiny of facility fees intensifies in North Carolina and elsewhere, ambulatory surgery center (ASC) leaders are working overtime to protect what some say is the bedrock of funding for outpatient care. Facility fees, often misunderstood and frequently politicized, are now at the center of proposed legislation in multiple states, including model language introduced in North Carolina’s budget bill. While lawmakers aim to crack down on billing practices that raise patient … [Read more...]