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On April 14, 2015, Congress repealed the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.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: December 29, 2015
Re: CMS-1631-FC Medicare Program; Payment Policies Under the Medicare PhysicianFee Schedule (MPFS) and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2016 Final Rule Dear Mr. Slavitt: On behalf the American […]
Letters
Published: December 29, 2015
Re: CMS-1631-FC Medicare Program; Payment Policies Under the Medicare PhysicianFee Schedule (MPFS) and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2016 Final Rule Dear Mr. Slavitt: On behalf of 4,000 […]
Letters
Published: December 18, 2015
Josiah Morse, MPHProgram DirectorWashington State Healthcare AuthorityHealth Technology Assessment ProgramP.O. Box 42712Olympia, WA 98504-2712 SUBJECT: Non-coverage Decision for Washington State HTA Re-review of LumbarSpinal Fusion for Degenerative Disc Disease: 20151120A […]
Letters
Published: December 3, 2015
Dear Representative Holding: The undersigned surgical organizations would like to thank you for your leadership inintroducing H.R. 2568, the Fair Medical Audits Act of 2015. This legislation would providemuch needed […]
Letters
Published: November 17, 2015
Dear Acting Administrator Slavitt: Thank you for the opportunity to provide input to the Request for Information (RFI) regarding theimplementation of Alternative Payment Models (APMs) and Merit-Based Incentive Programs (MIPS)under […]
Letters
Published: November 17, 2015
Andrew M. SlavittActing Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDepartment of Health and Human ServicesAttention: CMS-3321-NCSubmitted electronically via http://www.regulations.gov RE: Request for Information Regarding Implementation of the Merit-Based Incentive PaymentSystem, […]
Letters
Published: November 2, 2015
Dear Leader McConnell and Senator Reid: On behalf of the undersigned state and national medical specialty organizations, we are writingto express our strong concerns with the decision by the Administration […]
Letters
Published: November 2, 2015
Dear Speaker Ryan and Representative Pelosi: On behalf of the undersigned state and national medical specialty organizations, we are writingto express our strong concerns with the decision by the Administration […]
Letters
Published: September 17, 2015
Re: AANS/CNS Comments on Draft Technical Assessment for Washington State HTA Rereview of Lumbar Spinal Fusion Dear Mr. Morse: On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the […]
Letters
Published: September 8, 2015
Andy Slavitt, AdministratorCenters for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDepartment of Health and Human ServicesAttention: CMS-1631-PRoom 445-G, Hubert H. Humphrey Building200 Independence Avenue, SWWashington, DC 20201 Re: Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment […]
Letters
Published: September 8, 2015
Re: CMS-1631-P Medicare Program; Payment Policies Under the Physician FeeSchedule (PFS) and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2016 Dear Mr. Slavitt: On behalf of 4,000 practicing neurosurgeons in […]
Letters
Published: September 8, 2015
Re: Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Payment Model for Acute CareHospitals Furnishing Lower Extremity Joint Replacement Services; Proposed Rule[CMS-5516-P] Dear Mr. Slavitt and Dr. Conway: On behalf of the American […]
Letters
Published: September 1, 2015
Joseph Cheng, MDAmerican Association of Neurological Surgeons /Congress of Neurological Surgeons725 15th Street, NW, Suite 500Washington, DC 20005 Dear Dr. Cheng: I thank you and your colleagues for meeting by […]
Letters
Published: August 31, 2015
Andy Slavitt, AdministratorCenters for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDepartment of Health and Human ServicesAttention: CMS-1633-PRoom 445-G, Hubert H. Humphrey Building200 Independence Avenue, SWWashington, DC 20201 Re: CMS-1633-P Medicare Program; Hospital Outpatient […]
Letters
The Honorable Diane Black1131 Longworth House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515 RE: H.R. 2247, the Increasing Clarity for Doctors by Transitioning Effectively Now Act (ICD-TEN Act) Dear Representative Black: As the […]
Letters
The Honorable Ted Poe2412 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515 Dear Representative Poe: As the Alliance of Specialty Medicine (the “Alliance”), our mission is to advocate for sound federal healthcare […]
Letters
The Honorable Gary Palmer206 Cannon House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515 RE: H.R. 2652, Protecting Patients and Physicians Against Coding Act of 2015 Dear Representative Palmer: As the Alliance of Specialty […]
Letters
The Honorable Tom Price, MD100 Cannon House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515 RE: H.R. 2300, Empowering Patients First Act of 2015 Dear Representative Price: As the Alliance of Specialty Medicine (Alliance), […]
Letters
Andy Slavitt, Acting AdministratorCenters for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDepartment of Health and Human ServicesRoom 445-G, Hubert H. Humphrey Building200 Independence Avenue, SWWashington, DC 20201 Subject: Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems […]
Letters
Josiah Morse, MPHProgram DirectorWashington State Healthcare AuthorityHealth Technology Assessment ProgramP.O. Box 42712Olympia, WA 98504-2712 Re: AANS/CNS Comments on Key Questions for Washington State HTA Re-review ofLumbar Spinal Fusion Coverage Policy […]
Article
Published: April 14, 2015
Neurosurgeons Commend Senate for Passing Historic Medicare LegislationCongress Finally Sends Medicare’s Flawed Physician Payment System to the Trash Heap Washington, DC – The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and […]
Letters
Published: March 18, 2015
Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi, We are writing to express our concern regarding the provision contained in Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services’ (CMS) Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule […]
Letters
Published: March 18, 2015
Dear Secretary Burwell and Acting Administrator Slavitt: The undersigned national medical organizations are writing to express concerns regarding theCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implementation of Section 218 (b) […]
Letters
Published: March 16, 2015
Dear Speaker Boehner: The undersigned state and national medical associations strongly urge you to repeal the failedMedicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula before the expiration of the current paymentpatch. During […]
Letters
Published: March 15, 2015
Dear Mr. Speaker and Leader Pelosi: The undersigned organizations of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine (the Alliance) write in support of H.R. 2, theMedicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of […]
