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.

02-02-10 President Obama releases FY 2011 budget 01-29-10 Senate bill to increase debt limit could set the stage for five-year SGR freeze: Provisions fall short of medicine’s goal of true reform 01-29-10 President Obama renews commitment to health care reform in State of the Union address 01-27-10 UPDATE: Action needed: Urge your Senators to repeal the SGR 01-20-10 Health Care Reform Update 01-14-10 ASA President Alex Hannenberg, M.D., expresses ASA’s concerns and recommendations in letter to House and Senate health reform negotiators 01-11-10 ASA joins 74 other provider and beneficiary groups in letter opposing IPAB 01-05-10 Congressional summary of health reform bills 12-24-09 Senate passes health reform legislation by a vote of 60 –39 12-22-09 Senate Passes Bill Creating Two Month "Bridge" for Medicare Physician Payments - Payments to be maintained at 2009 level through February 28, 2010 12-22-09 ASA urges a “no” vote on final passage of the Senate health reform bill in letter to Senator Reid 12-17-09 House Defense appropriations bill includes short-term SGR fix 12-09-09 ASA expresses strong opposition to Medicare buy-in in letter to Senate Leader Harry Reid 12-03-09 Message from ASA President Alex Hannenberg: ASA opposes current Senate bill 11-23-09 U.S. Senate votes to proceed with health reform bill 11-19-09 U.S. House of Representatives passes SGR fix 11-19-09 Senate Democrats release health care reform legislation 11-18-09 ASA joins sign-on letter urging physician Members of Congress to support H.R. 3961, House SGR legislation 11-12-09 Materials from Nov. 11 Health Care Tele-Town Hall with Dr. Alex Hannenberg 11-06-09 ASA President Alex Hannenberg provides context on upcoming House vote on health bill, urges action against Senate legislation 11-06-09 Additional information about final rule for 2010 Physician Fee Schedule: key points include full teaching rule implementation, PQRI measures, phase-in of practice expense updates 11-05-09 Senate considering drastic cuts to Medicare payments - Take action today! 11-04-09 ASA joins surgical groups in raising concerns about Senate bill 11-03-09 Health care reform update from ASA President Alexander A. Hannenberg, M.D. 10-30-09 CMS releases final rule for 2010 Physician Fee Schedule: key points include full teaching rule implementation, PQRI measures, phase-in of practice expense updates 10-13-09 ASA president sends letter to U.S. House leaders urging negotiated payments in House health care reform legislation 09-29-09 ASA joins AMA, other groups on letter urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to require negotiated payment rates in health reform legislation 09-24-09 ASA urges Senate Finance Committee to allow for free negotiation by physicians in any new health insurance offering 09-21-09 ASA applauds Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) for provisions in “America’s Healthy Future Act” that would allow for fair negotiation 09-16-09 Senate Finance Committee releases health reform legislation 08-20-09 ASA reaches out to President Obama over statement that public plan option is “not the essential element” of health reform 07-27-09 ASA sends letter to key House Committee chairmen reiterating serious concerns about Medicare rate-based public plan 07-21-09 ASA reaches out to AMA, urges unity in fight against Medicare rate-based public plan 07-17-09 ASA diverges from AMA over support of H.R. 3200 07-15-09 Senate HELP Committee approves health reform bill 07-13-09 ASA applauds “Blue Dog Coalition” for its stance on public plan option 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 obtains copy of House Energy and Commerce Committee summary of health care reform legislation 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 03-26-09 ASA President participates in White House health care discussion 03-19-09 HHS Names Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research

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
  April 26-28, 2010
  Washington, DC
  
  
• Washington Reports
  
  
• Position Papers
  
  
• Medicare Claims Processing Manual
  
  
• CMS Supervision Rules for Nurse Anesthetists
  

State Legislative and Regulatory Activities

• 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
• State Governmental Affairs Handbook

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)