In 2015, the Connecticut Legislature passed a deeply flawed 6% provider tax on same-day surgical procedures at Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs). Not only is this tax unprecedented nationwide – it threatens to reduce patients’ access to high quality, cost effective, community-based surgical care that thousands of Connecticut residents need and want.

No other state has such a hefty provider tax. In fact, Rhode Island even recently repealed a 2% tax on their ASCs because of the devastating effect it had on patient access.

This new provider tax is a “double tax” on Connecticut’s ASCs. ASCs already pay sales and local property taxes. A preliminary analysis determined that the additional 6% provider tax will cause 25% to 30% of Connecticut’s 47 ASCs to operate at a loss.

As a direct result, many ASCs will be forced to close their doors while others may cut back on the services they provide, forcing patients to undergo their surgical procedures at more expensive hospitals and potentially leaving valued, high skilled workers unemployed. The thousands of patients across Connecticut wanting and needing to receive their care in ASCs should not have to pay higher deductibles, co-payments, and co-insurance because an ASC was not an option for their care.

It’s time for the Connecticut Legislature to repeal this unprecedented tax. Community-based surgical centers can’t wait, and neither can their patients.