Members of the New Jersey Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby for the benefits ASCs provide in increasing access to quality, affordable healthcare.
Aaron Shechter, CEO of Endoscopy Center of Bergen County in Paramus, N.J., and NJAASC board member, and Alex Scott, ASC chain AmSurg's vice president of operations and fellow member of NJAASC, represented the organization to policymakers as part of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association's annual advocacy day, according to a March 1 news release from the NJAASC.
"While ASCs in the U.S. saved Medicare $28.7 billion from 2011 to 2018 and are projected to save an additional $73 billion between 2019 and 2028, these forecasted savings are threatened by Medicare policies that result in continually declining reimbursement and other factors that limit Medicare beneficiaries’ access to outpatient surgical care," Mr. Shechter said in the release. Mr. Shechter and Mr. Scott advocated for legislation including the Outpatient Surgery Quality and Access Act, which proposes annual adjustments to Medicare payments for services at ASCs that are equal to those at hospital outpatient departments.