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NeurosurgeryPAC in Action

The AANS has an active, valuable and effective Political Action Committee, or PAC, which provides organized neurosurgery with vital access to lawmakers on Capitol Hill and allows neurosurgeons to voice their views on critical issues facing their practice and their patients.

NeurosurgeryPAC's recent accomplishments include:

 

  • Organized neurosurgery is leading efforts to promote legislation that would ensure fair and adequate reimbursement for neurosurgical services. To provide access to vital surgical services, Medicare must maintain the 10- and 90-day global surgery payment package and CMS must not use flawed or incomplete data to revalue global surgery codes. We are working with Congress to prevent future cuts to global surgery services.
  • Patients and physicians should be allowed to privately contract in Medicare without penalty to either party. Under current law, physicians who wish to contract privately must opt-out of Medicare for two years, and Medicare will not pay any portion of the physician's services. Through neurosurgery's efforts, Sens. Rand Paul, MD, (R-Ky.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) introduced the Medicare Patient Empowerment Act (S. 826/H.R. 3322) which would remove these restrictions by allowing physicians to remain in Medicare and enter into private contracts on a case-by-case basis.
  • A long-time supporter of efforts to ensure that physicians of all specialties and in all regions of the country are fairly reimbursed for the medical services they deliver to Medicare beneficiaries, neurosurgery endorsed legislation to improve payments to neurosurgeons practicing in rural areas. Introduced by Rep. Cynthia Axne (D-Iowa), (H.R. 5054) the Keep Physicians Serving Patients Act, would increase payments to rural providers.

 

An appropriate supply of well-educated and trained physicians is an essential element to ensure access to quality healthcare services for all Americans. Through the continued advocacy of neurosurgery, policymakers are beginning to understand that there are significant shortages of physicians in both primary and specialty care.

  • Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.); John Boozman (R-Ark.); and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in the Senate, and Reps. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and John Katko (R-N.Y.) in the House, introduced the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (S. 834/H.R. 2256) This legislation would increase the number of Medicare-supported residency positions by 3,000 each year for the next five years for a total of 15,000 new residency slots.
  • Reps. Brian Babin, DDS, (R-Texas) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) introduced the Resident Education Deferred Interest (REDI) Act (H.R. 4122) The bill makes student loan borrowers eligible for interest-free deferment under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program if the borrowers are serving in medical or dental internships or residency programs.
 
 
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