Washington, DC - The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) are pleased that the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee has convened a hearing to examine ways to bring regulatory relief to beneficiaries and providers in an effort to improve the Medicare program. To this end, the AANS and CNS urge subcommittee members to support H.R. 868, the Medicare Education and Regulatory Fairness Act (MERFA), as a first step in providing modest regulatory reforms, whether or not more comprehensive Medicare restructuring takes place. Recognizing the increasing pressure on physicians to comply with an unending series of rules, regulations and guidelines, this bipartisan legislation will help reduce Medicare's regulatory burden and allow physicians more time to care for their patients.

MERFA contains several important provisions, including:

• Requiring the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to adequately educate physicians about Medicare's ever-changing billing rules and procedures;
• Reforming HCFA's audit process by giving physicians due process rights that currently do not exist;
• Eliminating random pre-payment audits; and
• Requiring HCFA to pilot test new Evaluation and Management documentation guidelines before they are implemented.

&quopt;Today, neurosurgeons are required to comply with complicated regulations or face potentially severe penalties. It is an ever-moving target, and physicians are never quite sure whether or not they are in compliance with HCFA's rules du jour," said Stewart Dunsker, MD, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based neurosurgeon who is President of the AANS. "This bill will help educate physicians so they better understand Medicare's complex rules."

Issam A. Awad, MD, a Denver, Colorado-based neurosurgeon who is President of CNS, added that, "Neurosurgeons, like all physicians, live in fear of unfair accusations and penalties for innocent billing mistakes. The overwhelming majority of doctors are honest, law-abiding citizens who want to deliver the best possible care to our patients. Passage of this bill will help reduce time spent on paperwork so we can spend more time with our patients."

The AANS and CNS are working with other health care organizations, including the American Medical Association, to achieve passage of this important legislation.

The AANS, founded in 1931, and the CNS, founded in 1951, are the two largest scientific and educational associations for neurosurgical professionals in the world. These groups represent approximately 4,800 practicing neurosurgeons in the United States. Active members of the two groups are neurosurgeons who have completed four years of medical school and four to seven years of additional specialized training. Neurosurgery is the surgical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the spine, brain, nervous systems and peripheral nerves.