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National Advocacy Day Secures More Support for ASC Legislation

Five new cosponsors sign up to support the Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act of 2023

BY MAIA KUNKEL | MAY 17, 2024

From left, Representatives Joe Wilson (R-SC), Kevin Kiley (R-CA) and Tracey Mann (R-KS).

Since ASCA hosted its annual National Advocacy Day earlier this year, five new cosponsors have joined the Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act of 2023 (H.R. 972/S. 312). Representatives Joe Wilson (R-SC), Kevin Kiley (R-CA), Tracey Mann (R-KS) and Jefferson “Jeff” Van Drew (R-NJ) all joined the legislation as supporters after meeting with constituents during National Advocacy Day. Most recently, Senator John Barrasso, MD (R-WY), rejoined the bill as a cosponsor after previously supporting the legislation during the last Congress.

During the meetings as part of National Advocacy Day, ASCA members educated the lawmakers and their staff on the importance of the ASC model in their communities and the need to support the legislation. They explained the issues that impact their ASCs’ ability to provide care and the proposed fixes contained in the Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act. Following the meetings and advocacy for the bill, the four representatives joined the bill as cosponsors.

From left, Representative Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) and Senator John Barrasso, MD (R-WY).

Wilson has represented South Carolina’s second district in the US House of Representatives since 2001. In 1984, he was first elected to office in the South Carolina Senate. New member Kiley was elected to represent California’s third district in 2022. Before joining Congress, Kiley was a member of the California State Assembly and a teacher in Los Angeles, California, with Teach for America.

Mann has represented Kansas’s first district since 2021. Before he was elected to Congress, Mann served as the lieutenant governor of Kansas from 2018 to 2019. He previously worked in commercial real estate and served on the loan committee for First National Bank Syracuse (now Dream First Bank). Van Drew was first elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2018—before switching parties in 2020—and represents New Jersey’s second district. Previously, he served in the New Jersey General Assembly and was a practicing dentist for 30 years. Finally, Barrasso, an orthopedic surgeon, has previously supported the Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act. Additionally, he is a member of the US Senate Committee on Finance and the Subcommittee on Health Care, which have jurisdiction over ASC issues.

Background

In early 2023, Representatives Brad Wenstrup, DPM (R-OH), and John Larson (D-CT) reintroduced the bipartisan, bicameral act in the House of Representatives, and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA), introduced the legislation in the Senate. If enacted, this crucial legislation will slow the widening disparity in Medicare payments between ASCs and hospital outpatient departments by making the hospital market basket the inflationary update factor permanently; add transparency and accessibility for patients trying to research quality metrics; require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to disclose the reasons procedures are denied reimbursement in the ASC setting; and add an ASC voice to the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment.

Importance of Advocacy

Unfortunately, too many legislators remain uninformed about ASCs. Even those who are familiar with the surgery centers in their communities should be kept up to date on the recent wins and progress of ASCs and their current challenges. Every voice has an impact and makes a difference in achieving legislative change on issues that hinder ASCs’ potential to continue providing high-quality, lower-cost care to patients.

You can help secure further support for the Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act by using ASCA’s template letters to write to your members of Congress and ask them to join as cosponsors. If you want to meet with your members of Congress and their staff at your ASC, sign up to host a facility tour.

Stay tuned for more information about ASCA’s 2025 National Advocacy Day.

Write Maia Kunkel, ASCA’s Government Affairs manager, at mkunkel@ascassociation.org with questions.