ASA's Office of Governmental and Legal Affairs is located in Washington, D.C. It monitors and engages in advocacy with respect to federal and state legislative and regulatory activities affecting the practice of medicine by the Society's members. Further, it is responsible for providing Practice Management assistance and advice for the membership, principally with respect to the Medicare program but also with respect to all "business" aspects of the delivery of anesthesia care. The American Society of Anesthesiologists Political Action Committee (ASAPAC), a separate segregated fund of the Society, is also administered in the Washington Office, as are the Society's internal legal affairs and maintenance of relations with outside legal counsel.
With the exception of federal regulatory materials related to Medicare reimbursement, materials related to federal and state legislation and regulations can be found on this site and are listed on the Index. Regulatory materials related to Medicare reimbursement can be found and are indexed on the Practice Management site.

07-02-09 CMS releases proposed 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule 06-29-09 ASA President's update: Essential information on health care reform 06-25-09 Write your U.S. Representative about health care reform 06-25-09 ASA urges key House committee chairman to oppose a public plan option based on Medicare payment rates 06-19-09 House Committees introduce health care reform legislation 06-09-09 Senate HELP Committee releases health care reform legislation 06-04-09 ASA’s Efforts on SEDASYS® 06-04-09 ASA obtains copy of House Energy and Commerce Committee summary of health care reform legislation 06-03-09 ASA sends letter to Senate HELP committee opposing Medicare-based public plan option 06-02-09 Alert: Contact your U.S. Senator to oppose a Medicare-based public plan option 05-29-09 Health Reform Timeline and Content Released 05-19-09 ASA President’s update on health care reform 05-18-09 Senate Finance Committee releases third set of policy options for financing health care reform 05-15-09 House Democrats discuss Energy and Commerce Committee reform plan 05-15-09 ASA submits comments to Senate Finance Committee regarding delivery system reform options. 05-15-09 Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee holds hearing about health care delivery reform 05-14-09 ASA President Roger Moore, M.D. Meets with U.S. Senators to Discuss Health System Reform 05-13-09 Senate Finance Committee holds roundtable on financing health care reform 05-11-09 Senate Finance Committee releases second set of policy options for improving delivery and expanding health care coverage 05-01-09 FTC to delay implementation of “Red Flag Rules” 04-28-09 Senate Finance Committee releases first of three policy option documents on health system reform 04-20-09 Sens. Baucus and Kennedy send letter to President Obama affirming commitment to health reform 03-31-09 UPDATE: House passes National Pain Care Act -- Urge the Senate to do the same! 03-30-09 Contact Congress in support of the National Pain Care Policy Act 03-26-09 ASA President participates in White House health care discussion 03-19-09 HHS Names Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research 03-09-09 NIH Challenge Grant Program 02-20-09 President Obama signs stimulus bill into law Legislation includes HIT, other health care provisions 02-13-09 House- and Senate-passed stimulus includes HIT, other health care provisions 02-06-09 ASA sends letter to President Obama regarding HIT, Truth and Transparency and Health Care Reform 01-15-09 U.S. House of Representatives votes to extend SCHIP program 12-18-08 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have posted the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) program measures and specifications 11-12-08 Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) releases plan for health reform 10-31-08 2009 Physician Fee Schedule includes payment increase for anesthesiology 10-15-08 ASA submits comments to CMS regarding transition to Version 5010 and ICD-10

Personnel of the Washington Office include:

ASA Washington Office
1501 M Street, N.W.
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone: (202) 289-2222
Fax: (202)371-0384
E-mail: mail@asawash.org

Federal Legislative and Regulatory Activities

• 2009 Health Care Reform
  
  
• Lansdale Public Policy Fellowship
  
  
• ASA Legislative Conference
  
  
• Washington Reports
  
  
• Position Papers
  
  
• Medicare Claims Processing Manual
  
  
• CMS Supervision Rules for Nurse Anesthetists
  

State Legislative and Regulatory Activities

• State Governmental Affairs Handbook
  
  
• Balance Billing
  
  
• The Scope of Practice of Nurse Anesthetists
  
  
• Listing of Professional Liability Insurance Companies (Members Only)
  
  
• 2008 Summary of State Legislative and Regulatory Activities (Members Only)

Grassroots

• ASA Grassroots Network
• Washington Advocacy Guide

Legal Information and Resources

• ASA Antitrust Statement
  
  
• ASA Copyright Policy
  
  
• License Information for CROSSWALK®, Reverse CROSSWALK, and Relative Value Guide ®
  

Office-Based Anesthesia

• ASA Office-Based Anesthesia Guidelines
  
  
• State Statutes, Regulations and Guidelines
  
  
• AMA Core Principles for Office-Based Surgery

ASAPAC - ASA Political Action Committee (Members only)