Surgery Centers Projected to Save Medicare $85 Billion Over Next Decade

May 4, 2026

Alexandria, VA—The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association today released an analysis from KNG Health Consulting projecting that ambulatory surgery centers will save the Medicare program $84.8 billion from 2025 to 2034. Medicare reimburses ASCs at roughly half the rate that it reimburses hospital outpatient departments for the same procedures. This means that every time a procedure for a Medicare beneficiary is performed in an ASC instead of an HOPD, the Medicare program saves money.

Previously, KNG Health used Medicare claims to determine that ASCs saved Medicare $43.2 billion between 2015 and 2024.

“Advancements in technology and surgical techniques mean that an ever-growing number of procedures can be safely and cost-effectively performed in ASCs,” said ASCA Chief Executive Officer Bill Prentice. “This new analysis confirms the immense savings potential of surgery centers as more Medicare beneficiaries seek high-quality, cost-effective care in surgery centers.”

ASCs saved the Medicare program $5.10 billion in 2024 alone, the analysis of Medicare claims shows. Despite a slight decline in savings due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, savings rebounded and resumed its pre-pandemic growth trajectory. The analysis projects that the savings from cardiovascular procedures performed in ASCs will rise from $390 million in 2025 to $1.57 billion in 2034. It also estimates that savings from cataract surgeries performed in ASCs will rise from $1.5 billion in 2025 to just over $2 billion in 2034, totaling $17.7 billion in savings over the next decade.

Methodology

The projection of future ASC savings incorporated assumptions regarding the growth of outpatient surgical volume per enrollee, Medicare Advantage penetration rates and the ASC share of outpatient surgeries. The number of beneficiaries covered by traditional Medicare was estimated using county-level data from the U.S. Census Bureau and MA penetration growth rate data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Estimates were calculated for Medicare Fee-for-Service only, and calibrated and adjusted to align with data from the Medicare Trustees.

For more information and details on savings by year, code groups and more, please visit ASCA’s Medicare Savings from Use of Ambulatory Surgery Centers webpage.

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The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) is the national membership association that represents ambulatory surgery centers of every specialty and provides advocacy and resources to assist members in delivering high-quality, cost-effective ambulatory surgery to all the patients they serve.