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On April 14, 2015, Congress repealed the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.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: August 21, 2017
SUBJECT: Medicare Program; CY 2018 Updates to the Quality Payment ProgramProposed Rule (CMS-5522-P) Dear Administrator Verma: On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress ofNeurological […]
Letters
Published: August 21, 2017
RE: CMS-5522-P, Medicare Program, CY 2018 Updates to the Quality Payment Program, 42 CFR Part414 Dear Ms. Verma, The Alliance of Specialty Medicine (the “Alliance”) represents more than 100,000 specialty […]
Letters
Published: August 21, 2017
Re: CMS-5522-P – Medicare Program; CY 2018 Updates to the Quality Payment Program Dear Ms. Verma: The undersigned members of the Physician Clinical Registry Coalition (the Coalition) appreciatethe opportunity to […]
Article
Published: August 18, 2017
Starting on July 1, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requiring that certainneurosurgeons in the nine states listed above to report the number of post-operative visits […]
Article
Published: August 11, 2017
CMS proposes to implement a FY 2018 +0.4588 percent adjustmentfor the Documentation and Coding Adjustment as required by the21st Century Cures Act. …. Read full article here
Letters
Published: August 8, 2017
SUBJECT: LCD DL34555-Draft LCD for Non-Covered Category III CPT Code 0398T:MRgFUS stereotactic lesion ablation Dear Dr. Garrett, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)and the […]
Article
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Article
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Article
BackgroundOn Oct. 14, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final ruleimplementing the new Medicare Quality Payment Program (QPP). Mandated by the Medicare Accessand CHIP Reauthorization […]
Letters
Dear Senator: As leading organizations representing the interests of patients, providers and manufacturers, wewrite to ask that you cosponsor S.794, the Local Coverage Determination Clarification Act of 2017. Medicare coverage […]
Article
Table of Contents Executive Summary/Background………………………………………………………………………………………….6Overview…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6QPP Strategic Objectives…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6One QPP………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6Summary of the Major Provisions…………………………………………………………………………………………………7QPP Year 2 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………7Small Practices…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………7Summary of Major Provisions for Advanced APMs……………………………………………………………………………….7Summary of Major Provisions for MIPS……………………………………………………………………………………………….8Payment Adjustments………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10Benefits and Costs […]
Letters
Subject: Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System(IPPS) and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment SystemProposed Rule, and Request for Information CMS-1677-P Dear Ms. Verma, […]
Letters
SUBJECT: Affordable Health Insurance for the Middle Class Act Dear Senator Feinstein: The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and Congress of Neurological Surgeons(CNS) support your efforts to expand access […]
Letters
Dear Mr. Chairman, Thank you for inviting the Alliance of Specialty Medicine to provide comments and recommendations related tothe Senate Finance Committee’s effort to produce patient-focused health care legislation. The […]
Letters
When insured patients are treated in the hospital, they should be confident in the knowledge that their healthinsurance will cover them. Unfortunately, a growing number of these patients are finding […]
Article
Background In 1996, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published the report “Telemedicine: A Guide to AssessingTelecommunications for Health Care,” where telemedicine was defined as “the use of electronicinformation and communications […]
Letters
Re: Social Security Number Removal Initiative Dear Administrator Verma: The undersigned organizations are writing to express concern over the Centers for Medicare & MedicaidServices’ (CMS) planned enactment of the Social […]
Letters
Published: April 28, 2017
SUBJECT: ICER Scoping Document on Certain Non-pharmacologic Interventions forChronic Low Back and Neck Pain Dear Colleagues: The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)and the AANS/CNS […]
Letters
Published: April 20, 2017
Re: Collecting Data on Resources Used in Furnishing Global Services Dear Secretary Price and Ms. Verma: On behalf of the 23 undersigned organizations of the surgical coalition, we write to […]
Letters
Published: March 21, 2017
Dear Administrator Verma: The undersigned physician organizations welcome the Trump Administration’s emphasis onreducing regulatory burdens. Congress recognized when it passed the Medicare Access andCHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) in an overwhelming […]
Letters
Published: March 20, 2017
Dear Secretary Price: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we are writing to request that you use your regulatoryauthority to minimize the 2018 penalties to be imposed on physicians pursuant […]
Letters
SUBJECT: Non-coverage Decision for Washington State HTA Re-review of LumbarADR: 20170120B. Dear Mr. Morse: We, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Congress of NeurologicalSurgeons (CNS), AANS/CNS Joint Section on […]
Letters
Published: December 19, 2016
Subject: Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Model (APM)Incentive under the Physician Fee Schedule, and Criteria for Physician-FocusedPayment Models: Final Rule with Comment Period (CMS-5517-FC) Dear Administrator Slavitt: […]
Letters
Published: December 19, 2016
RE: Medicare Program; Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and AlternativePayment Model Incentive under the Physician Fee Schedule, and Criteria for Physician Focused Payment Models Dear Acting Administrator Slavitt: The Alliance […]
Letters
Published: November 16, 2016
Dear Chairman Alexander, Chairman Upton, Ranking Member Murray and Ranking Member Pallone: On behalf of the undersigned organizations dedicated to ensuring a strong national pediatric workforce,we write in support of […]