21 U.S. Senators Ask CMS to Fix ASC Update

Ambulatory Surgery Center Advocacy Committee Applauds Grassroots Efforts to Support Senate Action

Washington, D.C., August 5, 2010 – Today, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) were joined by a bipartisan group of 19 Senators urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to fix the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) update.  In a letter submitted to CMS administrator Dr. Don Berwick, the Senators asked the agency to use the hospital market basket, the index used for payment updates to hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs), instead of the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) to update ASC payments in 2011.  The ASC Advocacy Committee (ASCAC) applauds the Senators for their actions to preserve Medicare patients’ access to centers across the country by ensuring appropriate updates to the payment system. 

ASCs are the only healthcare facilities that receive payment updates based on CPI-U, a measure of inflation for goods and services purchased by consumers, based largely on prices for energy and housing. Unlike the CPI-U, the hospital market basket is a direct measure of inflation for the goods and services purchased by healthcare facilities. In March 2010, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) annual report to Congress also acknowledged that the CPI-U is an inaccurate mechanism for updating ASC payments.

Basing payment updates on the CPI-U versus the hospital market basket contributes to the increasing gap between ASC and HOPD payments rates. Over the last seven years, the relationship between ASC and HOPD payments fell from 86 to 58 percent for identical services, and the payment gap will continue to increase as long as payment updates for ASCs are tied to the CPI-U. CMS should use the same index when updating HOPD and ASC payments to ensure that ASC payments accurately reflect the inflationary pressures faced by the ASC industry and to ensure that ASCs have the resources needed to implement new technology, enhanced reporting systems, and the ability to continue providing high quality, patient-centered care at a low cost to the patient and health care system.

The ASC Advocacy Committee (ASCAC), created in 2009 to advance surgery center issues with federal legislators and regulators, applauds the grassroots efforts of ASC physicians, nurses and administrators that more than doubled the number of senators actively engaged on ASC issues by signing this letter. "The collective effort of the ASC industry illustrates the power of coming together and speaking with one voice,” said ASCAC Executive Director Marian Lowe.  “It is through the coordination of federal, state, and local leaders that we can achieve a level playing field for ASCs in federal policy. We are extremely proud of the efforts of all of our stakeholders.”

A complete list of the Senate signers is below.
1.      Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)
2.      Senator Michael D. Crapo (R-ID)
3.      Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA)
4.      Senator Jon L. Kyl (R-AZ)
5.      Senator David Vitter (R-LA)
6.      Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
7.      Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
8.      Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)
9.      Senator Bob Corker (R-TN)
10.    Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
11.    Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
12.    Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)
13.    Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
14.    Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
15.    Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
16.    Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT)
17.    Senator Jim Risch (R-ID)
18.    Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS)
19.    Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
20.    Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
21.   Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)

To view the Senate letter to CMS, click here.

About the Ambulatory Surgery Center Advocacy Committee
Ambulatory Surgery Centers are health care facilitates that specialize in providing important surgical and preventive services in an outpatient setting. With approximately 5,300 Medicare-certified facilities throughout the country, ASCs perform more than 25 million surgeries per year. The Ambulatory Surgery Center Advocacy Committee is working on behalf of the industry to raise awareness of the important role that ASCs play in the health care system and the high-quality, cost-effective care that ASCs provide. The ASCAC includes the national and state ASC associations as well as representatives of all types of ASC operators and physicians. For more information about ASCs, visit www.advancingsurgicalcare.com.