Here are four legislative changes impacting the healthcare industry for ASC leaders to note from the past month:
CMS canceled the mandatory hip fracture and cardiac bundled payments scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2018, and made changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model with the goal of offering more flexibility.
Republicans passed a tax bill that repealed the ACA's individual mandate. GOP leadership promises the bill will offer significant middle class tax breaks, but the bill has been met with much criticism. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 13 million people will lose insurance as a result of the individual mandate's repeal.
The Children's Health Insurance Program has been at the forefront of healthcare discussions as reserves for the bill are dangerously low and have yet to be renewed by Congress. Approximately 9 million children have insurance through CHIP. A $2.85 billion funding package is working its way through the U.S. House as of Dec. 21.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said House Republicans would attempt to pass spending reform aimed at Medicare in 2018, despite considerable backlash from other House Republicans.