Nevada legislators have passed a regulation which will increase ambulatory surgery center licensing fees almost 300 percent to help cover the cost of mandated facility inspections, according to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The fee to operate an ASC is now $9,784, up from $3,570, following a Jan. 13 vote by the Legislative Commission's Subcommittee to Review Regulations. Rural and urban hospital fees also increased significantly as a result of the passed regulation.
The state had indicated if fees were not increased, it would be forced to lay off 13 health facility inspectors. This would have brought the Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance, which oversees the inspections, to a 50 percent operating capacity, according to the report. A reduction in manpower would have led to a significant drop in the number of regular inspections — which became required by law in 2009 following the 2008 hepatitis C outbreak in Las Vegas.
Read the Las Vegas Review-Journal report about surgery center inspections.
Read more about Nevada healthcare:
- Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners Doles Out Penalties for Convicted Physicians
- Las Vegas Surgeon Keeps Medical License After Pleading Guilty in Fraud Case
- Nevada's Brown Hand Center Adds Surgery Center