BY ALI LEGROS | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2017
In 2017, state lawmakers across the country filed more than 180,000 bills and enacted nearly 35,000 of those. Given that volume, it is not surprising that the ASC community found itself objecting to several legislative proposals during the 2017 legislative session.
Read More >
BY SAHELY MUKERJI | OCTOBER 2017
In July, state regulators of Vermont approved a certificate of need (CON) for the first multi-specialty and second independent ASC in the state. Amy Cooper, executive director of HealthFirst in Burlington, Vermont, talked to ASC Focus about her experience with the process that took three years to come to fruition.
Read More >
BY SAHELY MUKERJI | SEPTEMBER 2017
David G. Ornelas, CASC, chief operating officer at Colorado Clinic in Loveland, Colorado, volunteered as the state leader for Colorado during the “2017 If Not Now, When?” ASCAPAC State Competition. Colorado won the category of the most money raised with nearly $20,000. With a participation of 15 percent of state ASCs, Connecticut won the category with the highest percentage of participation. Lisa Winkler, executive director of Connecticut Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers and partner at Innovate and Organize in Avon, Connecticut, was the state leader.
Read More >
BY DANIELLE KASTER | AUGUST 2017
For more than 40 years, ASCs have been providing patients with safe, affordable and innovative care. As a leader in the evolution of surgical care, ASCs not only benefit patients, but also save money for Medicare and third-party payers.
Read More >
BY KRISTIN MURPHY | JUNE-JULY 2017
Late last year, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act, which includes a version of the Electronic Health Fairness Act of 2015. The bipartisan bill, introduced by US Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI) and Dianne DeGette (D-CO) and signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 13, 2016, is a nearly 1,000-page legislative package that provides funding for the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and opioid abuse prevention.
Read More >
BY ALI LEGROS | MAY 2017
Each year, ASCA’s State Affairs Committee hosts a gathering for state leaders and state advocates from the ASC community to learn from and network with one another. The State Affairs Committee will continue this tradition in 2017 with its State Leaders’ Workshop, a smaller, more focused discussion session than in recent years.
Read More >
BY KRISTIN MURPHY | APRIL 2017
Recent studies prove what the ASC industry already knew: ASCs provide significant savings to Medicare and its beneficiaries. A growing disparity in payments between ASCs and hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs), however, is jeopardizing both the industry and patient access to high-quality, cost-efficient care.
Read More >
BY KRISTIN MURPHY | MARCH 2017
ASCA Board Member Tom Deas, Jr, MD, began his gastroenterology medical practice in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1991. Board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both internal medicine (1981) and gastroenterology (1989), Deas served 20 years in the US Air Force, retiring as colonel, before starting his practice.
Read More >
BY KRISTIN MURPHY | FEBRUARY 2017
Nearly all legislation eventually approved by Congress is first considered in one or more of the many standing committees that exist in the House and Senate today. Several committees typically have jurisdiction over proposals that affect health care, Medicare and other issues essential to ASCs.
Read More >
BY ALI LEGROS | JANUARY 2017
Before we embark on the 2017 legislative session, let us recap the 2016 session. In 2016, more than 178,206 bills were filed across the country, and state lawmakers approved nearly 29,122 of them, making them 17 percent more productive than Congress. With that volume, the ASC industry saw several legislative issues arise. Many of those emerging issues are expected to be re-introduced in 2017.
Read More >