New legislation has been introduced in New Jersey to limit ambulatory surgery center ownership in the state, according to an NJ Spotlight report.
Here are five key points on the bill.
1. The legislation would require all new ASCs in the state to be owned by New Jersey hospitals or medical schools. Recently, the state Department of Health approved a number of ASCs with out-of-state owners. The new legislation would no longer allow this.
2. Sen. Richardy J. Codey (D-Essex and Morris) is the bill's sponsor.
3. S-2876/A-4476 is an offshoot of a 1989 law known as the Codey Act, according to the report. The Codey Act prohibits physicians from referring patients to facilities in which they have a financial stake. In 2009, a law related to the Codey Act was enacted, requiring all new ASCs to have partial ownership by a hospital or medical school, according to the report.
4. A number of out-of-state providers, such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York and Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, have opened ASCs in New Jersey, according to the report.
5. The New Jersey Hospital Association supports the legislation.