Daniel Larose, MD, is worried that increasing Medicaid coverage is hurting ASCs' access to specific markets.
Dr. Larose, CEO of Advanced Surgery Center in Omaha, Neb., joined Becker's to discuss the healthcare trends he's concerned about.
Editor's note: These responses were edited lightly for brevity and clarity.
Question: What healthcare trends are you wary of in 2023?
Daniel Larose: This does not apply only to 2023, but the increase in Medicaid coverage forms a significant block of the market that is harder for ASCs to treat. For instance, in Iowa, often the total reimbursement on procedures with implants is a fraction of the cost of the implant alone. As the number of patients on Medicaid increases, mainly because of Obamacare, the number of patients that ASCs cannot afford to treat increases as well. Often these patients are treated at the hospital at a greater cost.