ASC leaders have been closely monitoring numerous state and federal policy trends that could have significant impact on the industry over the next several years.
Meg Stagliano, MSN, president of the New Jersey Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers, recently joined Becker’s to discuss the most concerning policy trends facing ASCs in the state.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length:
Question: What’s the most concerning ASC trend on your mind right now?
Meg Stagliano: The most concerning ASC trend on my mind in New Jersey is the change to the ambulatory care facility tax.
On June 30, 2025, as part of the state budget package, the legislature enacted the Healthcare Finance Enhancement Act. The law makes significant statutory changes to the ambulatory care facility gross receipts assessment and extends the scope of the tax to include one room surgical practices.
Since 2011, the assessment rate was 2.95% of gross receipts for facilities with receipts over $300,000 [per year]. Facilities were capped at paying no more than $350,000 annually. The new 2025 law reduces the rate to 2.5% beginning July 1, 2025. However, the tax cap is eliminated. Facilities with higher gross receipts will now pay the full assessed percentage.
Additionally, the 2025 change now extends the assessment to one room surgical practices which were previously exempted.
Although the rate reduction may ease burdens for some surgery centers, eliminating the cap increases liability for high-volume facilities and adds burden to one room surgical practices.
Increasing the ambulatory care assessment on surgery centers places significant strain on their financial stability, reducing resources available to reinvest in patient care. With more dollars diverted to cover the tax, centers face difficulty adopting innovative technology and advancing clinical practices that directly enhance the quality of patient care. This downward financial pressure not only limits growth but also threatens long term sustainability of smaller surgery centers. This ultimately impacts the ASC industry in New Jersey [trying to meet] the evolving needs of patients and communities.
