Anesthesia stipends have moved from a rare accommodation to a routine budget item that some ASCs can no longer absorb.
The forces behind the shift show up clearly in the data: a shrinking anesthesia workforce, falling reimbursement and provider pay that keeps climbing.
Here are 10 numbers that explain how the stipend bubble formed and why ASC leaders increasingly describe the current model as unsustainable.
1. 28% to 44%. The share of ASCs expecting to pay anesthesia stipends jumped from 28% in 2024 to 44% in 2025, a 57% increase in a single year, according to a VMG Health survey.
2. 60%. Anesthesia coverage ranked among the top three financial challenges for 2026 for 60% of ASC leaders in the same survey, making it the most commonly cited operational concern heading into the year.
3. 44%, 36% and 9%. More than 80% of ASCs anticipate relying on contractor-based anesthesia coverage in 2026 — 44% planning to use independent contractors paired with stipends and another 36% using contractors without them. Only 9% of leaders said they plan to staff anesthesia through a traditional employment agreement, according to VMG Health.
4. 5.5%. Average professional anesthesia reimbursement has fallen 5.5% since 2019, dropping from $22.27 per unit to $21.88 per unit in 2023, even as provider pay continues to climb.
5. $4,000. That’s the daily stipend Sean Gipson, CEO and ASC division president of Remedy Surgery Center, said hospitals are now offering to secure anesthesia coverage. He said he didn’t believe the figure until a provider showed him a canceled check.
6. 7 figures. Advertised W-2 base pay for physician anesthesiologists reached seven figures for the first time in the first quarter of 2026, according to anesthesia career platform BagMask.com — up from a range of roughly $400,000 to more than $650,000 just one quarter earlier.
7. $276,434. Average CRNA annual salary had climbed to that figure as of April 2026, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited by the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology — up from $231,700 in 2024 and $181,040 in 2019, a roughly $50,000, or 28%, increase over that six-year span before the most recent jump.
8. 59%. CRNA salaries grew 59% from 2019 to 2026, rising from about $181,000 to $288,000, according to Marit Health and AANA data — nearly double the 29% growth rate for anesthesiologist pay over the same period, per healthcare consulting firm Veralon.
9. 41%. Nearly 41% of anesthesiologists expressed an interest in leaving their current roles within the next two years, according to a June 2025 American Medical Association report — the highest desire to leave of any physician specialty.
10. 30%. Nearly 30% of anesthesiologists are projected to leave practice by 2033, according to Scott Freer, clinical administrator of ASC Bala Cynwyd, Pa., who said the shrinking physician pipeline, combined with rising CRNA pay, is pushing more ASCs toward CRNA-forward staffing models.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.
