Reimbursement and Practice Management
On April 14, 2015, Congress repealed the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) permanently eliminates SGR and provides positive annual payment updates lasting through 2019. Since MACRA significantly changes the way Medicare pays physicians, we have developed a MACRA Resource Page to help educate neurosurgeons about this topic. In addition to our efforts on MACRA, the Coding and Reimbursement Committee is actively involved in bringing or reviewing new or revised CPT codes, is a strong advocate for appropriate valuation of neurosurgical services and neurosurgery’s Rapid Response Team works tirelessly to ensure that third party payors cover necessary neurosurgical services.
Key Resources
Letters
Published: September 27, 2019
Dear Administrator Verma: We are writing to express our strong opposition to a provision in the 2020 Medicare Physician FeeSchedule proposed rule. Specifically, we are very concerned with the proposal […]
Letters
Published: September 20, 2019
Dear Administrator Verma: The undersigned physician organizations support the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’(CMS) Patients Over Paperwork initiative and applaud CMS for tackling the challenging issue ofprior authorization (PA) […]
Letters
Published: September 13, 2019
Re: CMS-1715-P – Medicare Program; CY 2020 Revisions to Payment Policies under thePhysician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment Policies; Medicare SharedSavings Program Requirements; Medicaid Promoting Interoperability […]
Letters
Published: September 13, 2019
Subject: CMS-1715-P Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies Under thePhysician Fee Schedule (PFS) and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2020;Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; Quality Payment Program; andMedicaid […]
Article
Published: September 11, 2019
Statement for the Recordon behalf of theAmerican Association of Neurological Surgeonsand theCongress of Neurological Surgeonsbefore theCommittee on Small BusinessU.S. House of Representativeson the topic ofUtilization Management: Barriers to Care and […]
Letters
Published: September 9, 2019
Dear Members of Congress: The undersigned patient, physician, health care professional, and other health care stakeholderorganizations strongly support the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2019 (H.R.3107) recently […]
Letters
Published: September 9, 2019
SUBJECT: CY 2020 Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule Dear Ms. Verma, On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress ofNeurological Surgeons […]
Letters
Published: September 4, 2019
Dear Chairman Neal, Ranking Member Brady, Chairman Scott, and Ranking Member Foxx: The undersigned organizations are committed to our shared goal of protecting the patients we serve fromsurprise medical bills, […]
Letters
Published: August 15, 2019
Re: Policies for CY 2021 for Office/Outpatient E/M Visits in the CY 2020 MedicarePhysician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule Dear Administrator Verma: On behalf of the undersigned 53 organizations, we write […]
Letters
Published: August 14, 2019
SUBJECT: Comments on Proposed National Coverage Determination for Acupuncture forChronic Low Back Pain (CAG-00452N) Dear Ms. Jensen: On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the Congress of […]
Letters
Published: August 12, 2019
SUBJECT: Reducing Administrative Burden to Put Patients Over Paperwork Dear Administrator Verma, On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress ofNeurological Surgeons (CNS), representing more […]
Letters
Published: August 12, 2019
Subject: Request for Information; Reducing Administrative Burden To Put Patients OverPaperwork; RIN 0938–ZB54 Dear Administrator Verma: The Regulatory Relief Coalition (the Coalition) is pleased to have the opportunity to comment […]
Letters
SUBJECT: Support for Coverage for Magnetic Resonance Image-Guided High IntensityFocused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) for Essential Tremor (ET) LCD L33777 Dear Drs. Schaening and Campbell: On behalf of the American Association of […]
Letters
SUBJECT: Comments on Proposed LCD DL 38201 for Percutaneous VertebralAugmentation (PVA) for Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fracture (VCF) Dear Dr. Berman: On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), […]
Letters
SUBJECT: Comments on Proposed LCD DL 38213 for Percutaneous VertebralAugmentation (PVA) for Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fracture (VCF) Dear Dr. Holzmacher: On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), […]
Letters
SUBJECT: Comments on Proposed LCD DL 34228 for Percutaneous VertebralAugmentation (PVA) for Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fracture (VCF) Dear Dr. Lurvey: On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), […]
Letters
SUBJECT: Comments on Proposed LCD DL 33569 for Percutaneous VertebralAugmentation (PVA) for Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fracture (VCF) Dear Ms. Muir: On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), […]
Letters
Dear Representative Schakowsky and Ranking Member Burgess: On behalf of organizations dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children andadolescents, we write in support of Section 4 of your […]
Letters
Dear Chairman Pallone and Ranking Member Walden: The undersigned organizations believe a fair and equitable independent dispute resolution (IDR) process isan essential component of any surprise billing solution and should […]
Letters
Dear Representatives Ruiz and Roe: On behalf of the physician and medical student members of the American Medical Association, I amwriting to express our appreciation for the introduction of the […]
Letters
Subject: Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System(IPPS) and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment SystemProposed Rule, CMS-1716-P Dear Administrator Verma, On behalf of more […]
Article
PRIOR AUTHORIZATION BACKGROUND Prior authorization is a cumbersome process that requires physicians to obtain pre-approval for medicaltreatments or tests before rendering care to their patients. The process for obtaining this […]
Article
Americans continue to struggle with rising health care costs, including high deductibles and other out-ofpocket expenses. As such, a balanced solution for cost-sharing between patients, physicians and healthplans is a […]
Letters
Subject: Keep Physicians Serving Patients Act of 2019 Dear Representative Finkenauer, On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress ofNeurological Surgeons (CNS), representing more than […]
Letters
SUBJECT: Lower Health Care Costs Act Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons(CNS), representing more than 4,000 […]
