Here are 10 recent policy, business and workforce updates in the ASC industry:
1. President Donald Trump released fiscal 2026’s budget proposal May 2, which included $160 billion in reductions to nondefense federal spending. The proposal includes major cuts to the NIH, CDC, HHS and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The budget did not include reductions to Medicare or Medicaid.
2. Becker’s has reported on the development of 51 new ASCs so far in 2025. California and New Jersey have emerged as leading states for ASC development this year.
3. Physician burnout rates have fallen below 45% for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a May 1 report from the American Medical Association.
4. Becker’s has reported on five cases of companies tied up in device and drug patent litigation since the beginning of 2025.
5. U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., Robert Menendez Jr., D-N.J., Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, and John Larson, D-Conn., introduced a bill April 28 that would cap co-pays at ASCs.
6. Nashville, Tenn.-based physician group Envision Healthcare is exiting imaging. Its 400 radiologists will join El Segundo, Calif.-based Radiology Partners.
7. A bill that would ban anesthesia time limits in the state of Illinois unanimously passed another hurdle. The bill was proposed in January by Republican Illinois state Rep. Bill Hauter, MD, in response to a policy floated by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in November 2024 that would have placed time limits on procedures using anesthesia in Missouri, New York and Connecticut.
8. Becker’s reported on five hospital closures in April. For ASCs, this might result in an influx in patients who have lost access to services through providers at hospitals or outpatient departments.
9. Becker’s reported on six hospitals, health systems and physician practices that have announced layoffs since April 1.
10. Patrick Conway, MD, CEO of Optum Rx, has been named CEO of Optum, the healthcare services arm of UnitedHealth Group and parent company of ASC chain SCA Health
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