Study: Commercial Insurance Cost Savings in Ambulatory Surgery Centers
Author: Healthcare Bluebook and HealthSmart via Advancing Surgical Care
A review of commercial medical-claims data found that U.S. healthcare costs are reduced by more than $38 billion per year due to the availability of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) as an appropriate setting for outpatient procedures. More than $5 billion of the cost reduction accrues to the patient through lower deductible and coinsurance payments. This cost reduction is driven by the fact that, in general, ASC prices are significantly lower than hospital outpatient department (HOPD) prices for the same procedure in all markets, regardless of payer.