- The Honorable Michael Burgess
U.S. House of Representatives
2161 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 - The Honorable Ami Bera
U.S. House of Representatives
172 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Subject: Protecting and Continuing Physician Education and Patient Care Act
Dear Representatives Burgess and Bera,
On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), representing more than 4,500 practicing neurosurgeons in the United States, we are pleased to endorse your legislation, the Protecting and Continuing Physician Education and Patient Care Act, which would ensure that physicians have access to educational materials without undue regulatory and administrative burdens.
As you know, the Affordable Care Act incorporated provisions to promote transparency concerning payments and other financial transfers of value between physicians and the biomedical industry. However, the law outlines various exclusions from the reporting requirement, including “[e]ducational materials that directly benefit patients or are intended for patient use.”
Unfortunately, in its interpretation of the statute, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded that medical textbooks, reprints of peer-reviewed scientific clinical journal articles and abstracts of these articles are not directly beneficial to patients, nor are they intended for patient use; thus, making them less accessible to physicians. This interpretation is inconsistent with the statutory language, congressional intent and the reality of clinical practice where patients benefit directly from improved physician medical knowledge.
Click here to read the full AANS-CNS Letter Supporting Protecting and Continuing Physician Education and Patient Care Act.
