Site Neutrality

Medicare site neutrality policies would standardize reimbursement rates regardless of treatment setting - hospital, surgical center, or physician office. This policy ignores critical differences in operational costs, regulatory requirements, and patient complexity across settings. For echocardiography, site neutrality would impose devastating 76% cuts to common procedures, threatening the specialized equipment and expertise required for these complex cardiovascular diagnostics. 

ASE opposes site neutrality because it would undermine coordinated care, force physician practices to stop providing in-office services, and devastate rural hospitals operating on thin margins. These cuts would worsen healthcare access in underserved communities. ASE urges Congress to pursue alternative cost-control policies that don't compromise cardiovascular care or force rural hospital closures.