Digital Debut

Left: Brian Williams, Benita Tapia, RN, CASC, Rusty Marsh and Tersa Lech meet with Representative Julia Brownley (D-CA), center, during National Advocacy Day.

Right: National Advocacy Day attendees Sheila McAteer Sturek, RN, Tiffany Berardinelli, RN, Brian Schneider and Aaron Shechter, CASC, meet with Representative John Joyce, MD (R-PA), center.

National Advocacy Day Efforts Achieve New Legislative Support

Participants met with members of Congress and gained support for the Medicare Beneficiary Co-Pay Fairness Act

BY MAIA KUNKEL | OCTOBER 17, 2025

Every year, ASCA members travel to Washington, DC, to meet with their members of Congress and staff on Capitol Hill as part of National Advocacy Day. This year, on September 15 and 16, 89 ASCA members, representing 30 states, met with 122 members of Congress and their staff to help educate lawmakers about the ASC community. Participants also advocated for the Medicare Beneficiary Co-Pay Fairness Act (H.R. 3006/S. 1776).

After meeting with their ASCA member constituents, Representatives John Joyce, MD (R-PA), Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) joined the Medicare Beneficiary Co-Pay Fairness Act as cosponsors. Securing these new ASC supporters would not have been possible without the direct advocacy of ASCA members. “Standing on Capitol Hill, I realized that advocacy is not just policy—it is patient care in action,” says Danielle Briney, RN, quality and assurance assistant at Allied Physicians Surgery Center in South Bend, Indiana. “Meaningful change begins with showing up and speaking out.”

The Act

Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Troy Balderson (R-OH) and John Larson (D-CT) introduced the Medicare Beneficiary Co-Pay Fairness Act earlier this year in the House of Representatives and Senators Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced it in the Senate. The act aims to address the current inequity in Medicare’s copay structure. It seeks to increase Medicare beneficiaries’ access to ASCs by eliminating the copay penalty for certain Part B services when they are provided in an ASC. Medicare beneficiaries treated in either an ASC or hospital outpatient department (HOPD) are typically responsible for 20 percent of their cost of care. However, in HOPDs this 20 percent copay is capped at the inpatient hospital deductible amount ($1,676 in 2025), while there is no copay cap at ASCs. This results in higher out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries seeking treatment in an ASC for approximately 183 procedures.

This policy incentivizes beneficiaries to choose the higher-cost HOPD setting, despite the savings generated for Medicare when beneficiaries choose an ASC. Applying the existing copay cap to ASCs would reduce Medicare costs, provide greater access to care and eliminate situations where out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries treated in an ASC are higher than for beneficiaries treated in HOPDs.

Keep Advocating

National Advocacy Day helps ASCA members build relationships with the policymakers who make the decisions that directly impact the ASC community and its patients. Meeting with lawmakers also presents an opportunity to explain the current challenges threatening the ability to provide care in a surgery center. As part of National Advocacy Day, ASCA schedules a full day of congressional meetings for each participant. In addition, ASCA provides a training briefing for all participants the day before their scheduled meetings. During the briefing, ASCA staff explain current ASC legislation and how to conduct a successful congressional meeting.

As threats affecting the ASC community—and healthcare at large—continue to emerge, ensuring that your members of Congress stay knowledgeable about the problems threatening the ability to provide care to millions of patients each year remains a top priority.

Use ASCA’s template letters to ask your lawmakers to cosponsor the bill and support this crucial legislation.

For more information about the Medicare Beneficiary Co-Pay Fairness Act, visit ASCA’s website.

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