There were several significant national-level healthcare policy updates announced, passed or developed in the last month with numerous implications for ASCs.
Here are five policies ASC leaders should take note of in the last month:
1. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee advanced the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act on July 22 in a 21-1 vote, sending healthcare price transparency legislation to the full Senate floor.
The legislation would require hospitals to publicly report negotiated rates, cash prices and costs for ambulatory services, imaging and clinical labs. ASCs with hospital ownership ties would be pulled into that mandate too: beginning July 1, 2027, hospital-affiliated ASCs would have to publish gross charges, cash prices, payer-specific negotiated rates and de-identified minimum and maximum rates, following the same disclosure model as hospitals.
A day earlier, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced its own package, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, in a 45-0 vote on July 21. That bill would extend price transparency requirements to freestanding ASCs for the first time, along with independent clinical labs and imaging providers, effective in 2028 — a broader reach than the Senate bill’s hospital-tied ASC provision.
2. A group of physician lawmakers introduced the Patients First Act, which revamps the Medicare physician fee schedule, expands access to care and improves incentives for independent practices. The Patients First Act ties physician reimbursement to an inflationary measure. The legislation establishes a primary care hybrid payment pilot program that pays primary care physicians a per-member-per-month payment along with regular services. It would also create a program that includes a physician- and clinician-led task force at CMS to develop quality metrics, among other updates.
3.CMS on July 14 issued a proposed rule outlining Medicare Part B payment policy changes for physicians and other practitioners under the calendar year 2027 Physician Fee Schedule, with changes proposed to take effect Jan. 1, 2027. The proposed conversion factor for non-qualifying alternative payment model participants is $32.84, a decrease of $0.56, or 1.68%, from the current $33.40.
4. CMS’ 2027 payment rule for ASCs, proposed July 2, projects a 2.4% effective update overall. But CMS’ effective update for ASC-covered procedures ranges from a 4% decrease to a 35% increase, depending on the code and specialty group range.
5. Tucked inside the CY 2027 Home Health Prospective Payment System proposed rule, issued July 1, CMS is proposing new authority to deny or revoke Medicare enrollment for physicians, ASCs and other providers and suppliers on grounds that include provider density in a given market, certain misdemeanor convictions and retroactive payment recoupment. The program integrity provisions would apply across every Medicare provider and supplier type, not just home health agencies.
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