Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

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By Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. Crapo):

S. 1173. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to modernize payments for ambulatory surgical centers under the Medicare program; to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today, once again, to advocate for patients and their access to more choice and competition in providing good quality health care by introducing The Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and Access Act of 2011 with my colleague, Senator Crapo.

Advocates for health care reform and a healthier nation continue to emphasize the importance of keeping patients ``out of the hospital.'' ASCs can help do that by providing cost-effective services in an outpatient setting.

There are more than 5,200 Medicare-certified ASCs across all 50 States, with 83 in Oregon alone. These facilities, that employ the equivalent of 117,700 full-time workers nationwide, ensure that patients from Portland to Hermiston, from Klamath Falls to Coos Bay, have access to safe, effective, and quality surgical care.

But ASCs can do more than provide the same services found in a Hospital Outpatient Department; they can do it at lower cost. Medicare saves an estimated $3 billion each year when surgical procedures are performed in ASCs rather than hospitals due to ASC reimbursement equaling 56 percent of what a hospital receives.

Currently, Medicare uses two different factors to update reimbursement: one for ASCs and a different one for hospitals. ASC payments are updated based on the consumer price index, while hospital rates are updated using the hospital market basket, which specifically measures changes in the costs of providing health care. Both facilities can provide identical surgical procedures, so why aren't their respective reimbursements linked to the same update mechanism? Why should there be a double standard?

This inequity could have significant consequences for both patients' access to services and Medicare's rate of outpatient expenditures if facilities begin consolidating or hospitals begin acquiring these practices in an attempt to reimburse for the same services at a higher rate--and cost to the taxpayer.

The legislation Senator Crapo and I have introduced today, however, begins to address this in two ways: First, this bill creates parity by allowing ASC payment rates to be updated using the same market basket update hospitals use; and second, the bill goes a step further by establishing a Value-Based Purchasing program which will dispense shared savings payments based on quality reporting and improved performance.

The Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and Access Act puts commonsense policies in place that will enhance patients' access to quality care in a cost-effective way. I urge my colleagues to join us in cosponsoring this important legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

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