CMS movesOn July 15, CMS proposed a 2.6% increase in ASC payments for 2026 and announced a phased plan to remove hundreds of procedures from the inpatient-only list. “The most important factor is the ASC covered procedures list. By approving the outward migration of more complex spine and orthopedic surgeries to ASCs, CMS is accelerating the shift to more cost-effective settings,” Shakeel Ahmed, MD. Additionally, CMS plans to move another 271 procedures from the IPO list to the ASC setting in 2026. Certificate-of-need updatesAt the state level, certificate-of-need laws, long criticized by ASC leaders, are being scaled back or eliminated.