[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7116-H7118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTER PAYMENT TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2018
Mr. NUNES. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 6138) to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide
for ambulatory surgical center representation during the review of
hospital outpatient payment rates under part B of the Medicare program,
and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6138
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ambulatory Surgical Center
Payment Transparency Act of 2018'' or the ``ASC Payment
Transparency Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. ADVISORY PANEL ON HOSPITAL OUTPATIENT PAYMENT
REPRESENTATION.
(a) ASC Representative.--The second sentence of section
1833(t)(9)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395l(t)(9)(A)) is amended by inserting ``and at least one
ambulatory surgical center representative'' after ``an
appropriate selection of representatives of providers''.
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(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply with respect to advisory panels consulted on or
after the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 3. REASONS FOR EXCLUDING ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES FROM ASC
APPROVED LIST.
Section 1833(i)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395l(i)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``In updating such lists for application in years beginning
with the second year beginning after the date of the
enactment of this sentence, for each procedure that was not
proposed to be included in such lists in the proposed rule
with respect to such lists and that was subsequently
requested to be included in such lists during the public
comment period with respect to such proposed rule and that is
not included in the final rule updating such lists, the
Secretary shall cite in such final rule the specific criteria
in paragraph (b) or (c) of section 416.166 of title 42, Code
of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), based
on which the procedure was excluded. If paragraph (b) of such
section is cited for exclusion of a procedure, the Secretary
shall identify the peer reviewed research, if any, or the
evidence upon which such determination is based.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Nunes) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. NUNES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on H.R. 6138, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. NUNES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, ambulatory surgery centers provide patients with high-
quality, same-day surgical and preventive care. H.R. 6138, the
Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Transparency Act of 2018, makes two
simple and straightforward ASC reforms.
The bill adds an ASC representative to the advisory panel on hospital
outpatient payment, which will allow ASCs proper representation and a
seat at the table for future CMS payment policy changes. This bill also
requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to disclose
their criteria for inclusion or exclusion of procedures on the ASC
approved list.
Currently, CMS does not fully provide explanations for their
decisions, leading to a lack of transparency in the process. These
simple changes will continue to protect patient access to cost-
effective and high-quality services performed in the ASC setting.
I hope that this legislation marks the first of many steps in further
bolstering ASC and patient access to these high-quality facilities.
I thank Chairman Brady, Ranking Member Neal, and the Ways and Means
staff for working to provide transparency in this space. I also thank
Mr. Larson for his work and partnership on this important bill.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and
I reserve the balance of my time.
Committee on Ways and Means,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, July 13, 2018.
Hon. Greg Walden,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Walden: I write to you regarding H.R. 6138,
the ``Ambulatory Surgical Center (ACS) Payment Transparency
Act of 2018'' the Committee on Ways and Means ordered
favorably reported which was also referred to the Committee
on Energy and Commerce.
I ask that the Committee on Energy and Commerce waive
formal consideration of the bill so that it may proceed
expeditiously to the House Floor.
I acknowledge that by waiving formal consideration of the
bill, the Committee on Energy and Commerce is in no way
waiving its jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in
those provisions of the bills that fall within your Rule X
jurisdiction. I would support your effort to seek appointment
of an appropriate number of conferees on any House-Senate
conference involving this legislation.
I will include a copy of our letters in the Congressional
Record during consideration of this legislation on the House
floor.
Sincerely,
Kevin Brady,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Washington, DC, July 16, 2018.
Hon. Kevin Brady,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Brady: Thank you for your letters regarding
H.R. 4952, the ``Improving Seniors Access to Quality Benefits
Act,'' H.R. 6138, the ``Ambulatory Surgical Center (ACS)
Payment Transparency Act of 2018,'' and H.R. 6311, the ``To
amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act to modify the definition
of qualified health plan for purposes of the health insurance
premium tax credit and to allow individuals purchasing health
insurance in the individual market to purchase a lower
premium copper plan.''
The Committee on Energy and Commerce will forgo
consideration of both bills so that they may proceed
expeditiously to the House Floor.
I appreciate your assurance that by forgoing action on
these bills, the Committee is in no way waiving its
jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in the bills.
I also appreciate your offer of support for the appointment
of conferees from the Committee to any House-Senate
conference involving this legislation.
Sincerely,
Greg Walden,
Chairman.
Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the House has passed this bill before, making
clarifications on existing religious exemptions for healthcare. I
understand that religious groups have important healthcare concerns
that should be taken seriously.
While I support this bill, we should be talking about issues in
healthcare that our constituents bring up every day: skyrocketing
prescription drug costs, increasing premiums, and threats to guaranteed
coverage.
I just wanted to make those points, never losing the opportunity.
This bill is pretty simple, Mr. Speaker. Right now the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, has an advisory panel for
hospital outpatient issues that is comprised of outside experts. The
problem is this panel does not include representation for an ambulatory
surgical center, or ASC, in its membership, despite the panel
counseling on Medicare or ASC payment issues.
This legislation would require the addition of someone from ASC on
the advisory panel on hospital outpatient concerns.
Given that Medicare pays ASCs more than $4 billion a year through the
outpatient payment rule, it just makes sense that ASCs be represented
on this panel.
The bill requires more transparency in determining what types of
surgeries are safe to perform on an outpatient basis. More than 3
million Medicare beneficiaries receive care at an ASC for cataract
surgery and other surgeries. This bill makes sure that Medicare hears
the voice of the ASC provider, so that millions of Medicare
beneficiaries can continue to receive the outpatient care they want.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H.R. 6138, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
{time} 1545
Mr. NUNES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to reiterate the small but important step we are taking here
today in passing this legislation. Ambulatory surgical centers provide
excellent care at lower cost to patients and taxpayers.
While there is a much longer conversation that needs to happen
regarding parity in reimbursement in outpatient settings, what we are
doing here is simple. ASCs are an integral part of the healthcare
system, and we are saying that, as stakeholders, they deserve a seat at
the table when changes to payment policies are being debated and when
decisions are being made by CMS on the services they are able to
provide patients. We believe they should get a transparent explanation
as to why those decisions were made.
Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense bill. I urge all my colleagues to
support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Weber of Texas). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Nunes) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6138, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
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A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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