The American College of Surgeons has voiced its support for a bill that would overhaul the way Medicare reimburses ambulatory surgery centers, putting them on more equal footing with hospital outpatient departments.

"The legislation is consistent with the College's principles of improving patient access to care, promoting high quality care, and curbing rising health care costs," writes the ACS in a letter of support for the ASC Quality and Access Act of 2011. "Not only have ASCs been shown to save Medicare more than $3 billion per year as an alternative setting to the hospital outpatient department (HOPD), but they also provide a lower cost option for patients in need of surgical care."

In addition to the ACS' support, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association has also announced that 5 new members of Congress have thrown their weight behind the bipartisan bill, which was introduced in early June, bringing the total number of co-sponsors in the House and Senate to 16.

The legislation seeks to promote more parity between the way ASCs and HOPDs are reimbursed for surgical services by basing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' ASC payment updates on the hospital market basket, establishing an ASC value-based purchasing program and letting ASCs give patient notifications on the day of surgery when giving advance notice is not feasible.

You can read more about the bill here. To ask your representatives in Congress for support, visit ASCA's Legislative Action Center.

Irene Tsikitas