All Articles

Print
Advanced Search
Article Type
Year
Issue Area

Show oldest first Showing newest first
Washington E-Newsletter

Congress Urges CMS to Finalize Prior Authorization Rules

Nearly 300 bipartisan members of Congress signed letters urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to finalize proposed regulations to increase transparency, streamline and standardize prior authorization (PA) in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. Sixty-one senators and 233 members of the House of Representatives signed the letters to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and CMS Administrator Chiquita […]
Washington E-Newsletter

Congress Continues to Shine Light on Health Plan Abuses

On May 17, the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), held a hearing on “Examining Health Care Denials and Delays in Medicare Advantage.” Among the witnesses was a widow whose husband had difficulty getting medically necessary treatment, despite the efforts of their neurosurgeon. The AANS and CNS submitted […]
Washington E-Newsletter

AMA Launches Website to Fix Medicare Payment System

The American Medical Association recently launched fixmedicarenow.org, a one-stop-shop for all the information, resources and ways to make your voice heard to ensure that Congress works to address the critical issues physicians and their patients face due to the flawed Medicare physician payment system. Physicians are the only providers whose Medicare payments do not automatically receive […]
Washington E-Newsletter

Surgeons Release 7-Point Plan to Fix Broken Medicare Physician Payment System

The AANS and the CNS continue their efforts to fix the broken Medicare physician payment system. On June 21, the neurosurgical groups joined the Surgical Coalition in outlining a plan for reforming the Medicare physician payment system. The plan points out that the current Medicare payment system impedes efforts to improve the quality and value […]
Washington E-Newsletter

AMA to Conduct Survey of Physician Practice Expenses

The American Medical Association (AMA) has contracted with Mathematica, an independent research company, to survey randomly selected physicians regarding practice expenses. Mathematica will contact the selected practices from July 2023 to April 2024. The AANS and the CNS urge members to complete the survey if contacted. The AMA Physician Practice Information Survey aims to understand better the […]
Washington E-Newsletter

Neurosurgery Residents: Apply for the Washington Committee Fellowship Today

Applications are now being accepted for the 2024-25 American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Washington Committee/American Medical Association (AMA) Fellowship. This program offers an eligible neurosurgical resident or fellow an opportunity to participate in the Washington Committee and its five subcommittees and to serve as the AANS/CNS delegate to the […]
Comment Letter

House Letter Urging CMS to Finalize Prior Auth Rules

Dear Secretary Becerra and Administrator Brooks-LaSure: We write to thank the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for taking action toward ensuring timely access to health care by proposing rules to streamline prior authorization (PA) protocols for individuals enrolled in federally-sponsored health insurance programs, including Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.1, 2, 3 We urge […]
  • Reimbursement and Practice Management
Comment Letter

Senate Letter Urging CMS to Finalize Prior Auth Rules

Dear Secretary Becerra and Administrator Brooks-LaSure: We write to thank the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for taking action toward ensuring timely access to health care by proposing rules to streamline prior authorization (PA) protocols for individuals enrolled in federally-sponsored health insurance programs, including Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.123 We urge CMS to […]
  • Reimbursement and Practice Management
Position Statement

Surgical Coalition Outlines Plan for Reforming Medicare Payment System

Surgical Coalition’s Plan for Reforming the Medicare Physician Payment System The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to put forth annual regulations that exacerbate the underlying problems within the broken Medicare physician payment system. Furthermore, these policies negatively impact the ability of physician practices to invest in quality improvement efforts to benefit Medicare […]
  • Reimbursement and Practice Management
Comment Letter

Neurosurgery Comments on HIT Proposed Rule

Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPPNational CoordinatorOffice of the National Coordinator for Health Information TechnologyDepartment of Health and Human ServicesAttention: HTI-1 Proposed Rule (RIN 0955-AA03)Mary E. Switzer Building330 C. St S.W., 7th FloorWashington, D.C. 20024 RE: Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Certification Program Updates, Algorithm Transparency, and Information Sharing (HTI-1) Proposed Rule Dear National Coordinator Tripathi, The […]
  • Quality Improvement and Patient Safety