[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''.

[[Page H7117]]

       (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.

[[Page H7118]]

  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________