Pennsylvania's 2019-20 budget proposal includes a tax on ASCs, according to the Pennsylvania Medical Society.
Three details:
1. The Pennsylvania Ambulatory Surgery Association is leading a coalition of 19 state medical societies opposing the tax. In a March 29 letter, the coalition asked legislators to reject the proposal.
2. The tax's opponents say it could cause nearly one-fourth of ASCs in the commonwealth to operate at a loss, hurt access to quality care, shift patients to costlier hospital settings, and force ASCs to scale back services or close altogether.
3. Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf also proposed a 2.81 percent tax on surgery centers' net patient revenue last year, but it was nixed from the final $32.7 billion budget.