SUBJECT: Innovation Center New Direction – Request for Information
Dear Administrator Verma:
On behalf of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and Congress of Neurological
Surgeons (CNS), representing more than 4,000 neurosurgeons in the United States, we thank you for
the opportunity to respond to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center
New Direction Request for Information (RFI). We appreciate the Administration’s effort to seek public
feedback on a new direction for the Innovation Center, which was created under the Affordable Care Act
to test innovative payment reforms. We are also encouraged by its interest in promoting more patientcentered and market-driven reforms that increase choice while also aiming to improve outcomes and the
overall value of care.
The AANS and CNS fully support payment and delivery reforms that incentivize higher quality and better
value care, but the current manner in which quality and value are defined and measured is problematic
and flawed. The future direction of value-based payment reform needs to be guided by those treating
patients at the bedside and must not result in excessive regulatory burdens that distract from more
meaningful activities.
Listed below are some issues that the AANS and CNS ask CMS to consider as it determines the future
direction of the Innovation Center:
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Read full letter here
