| House Releases Opioid White Paper, AAOS Discusses Ortho Research, and More | ||
| For questions or concerns on these or other advocacy issues, contact us at dc@aaos.org. | ||
| AAOS Included in House White Paper on Opioids
On Wednesday, April 11, 2018, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA), along with Subcommittee on Health Chairman Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Ranking Member Sandy Levin (D-MI), released a white paper with solutions to combat the opioid epidemic. This white paper is the result of feedback the Committee received following a Request for Information (RFI) that was sent in February to key stakeholders asking for recommendations; lawmakers and the Administration may consider to prevent and treat opioid abuse and dependence in the Medicare program. This RFI yielded robust feedback from 110 stakeholders, including AAOS.
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| AAOS Discusses Research on Capitol Hill
On Thursday, April 5, 2018, leaders from the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) discussed on Capitol Hill the need for federally funded orthopaedic research within the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health. Speakers included the current president of AAOS, David Halsey, MD, as well as Kurt Spindler, MD, the chair of the AAOS Research Committee. Dr. Halsey opened the briefing by expressing thanks to members of Congress for funding included in the FY2018 omnibus legislation. He also noted the prevalence and debilitating nature of bone and joint disorders, which are the leading cause of disability in the United States. “The ask would be for appropriate funding to match the burden of [musculoskeletal] disease through both NIH funding as well as Department of Defense funding opportunities,” stated Dr. Halsey.
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| AAOS Joins American Corporate Partners
AAOS is pleased to announce, through the leadership of the Council on Advocacy (COA), a partnership with a national nonprofit organization focused on helping returning veterans find their next careers through one-on-one mentoring, networking, and online career advice. American Corporate Partners (ACP), founded in 2008, engages people in unique volunteer opportunities to provide career guidance to returning military as they transition back into civilian life. More than 20,000 post-9/11 veterans have participated in ACP’s programs.
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| MedPAC and MIPS
Earlier this year, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) voted 14-2 to in favor of killing the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and replacing it with an alternative model of reimbursement. While AAOS believes that MIPS certainly needs a lot of improvements we recently expressed to Congress that, physicians and MIPS-eligible clinicians have already invested a lot in educational and practice improvement activities in order to improve patient care and participate in the Quality Payment Program.
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| Quality Payment Program Updates
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) ended the Sustainable Growth Rate formula, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) then replaced it with the Quality Payment Program. Remember – the Quality Payment Program has two tracks you can choose: Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs) OR the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). AAOS has more information on our website, here: www.aaos.org/MACRA-DeliveryReform/.
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What We’re Reading Ryan Rebuffs Calls That He Make A Speedier Exit, The Hill, 4/12/18 Changes to Medicare, Social Security Less Likely Without Paul Ryan, The Wall Street Journal, 4/12/18 5 Years On, Marathon Bomb Survivors Inspire Medical Advances, AP News, 4/12/18 Opioid Distributors to Testify Before House Committee on Their Role in Epidemic, The Hill, 4/12/18 Congress Isn’t Doing Enough on Opioid Treatment, Experts Say, Axios, 4/11/18 Late MACRA Notices, Outreach Could Put Docs on Hook For IT Upgrades, Modern Healthcare, 4/10/18 Trump Administration Rewrites ACA Rules to Give More Power to States, The Washington Post, 4/9/18 Congress Nears Finish Line on Opioid Legislation, Modern Healthcare, 4/7/18 Why Trump’s Tariffs Could Raise the Cost of a Hip Replacement, The New York Times, 4/6/18 Surgeon General Urges Public to Carry Overdose-Reversal Medication, Stat News, 4/5/18 Senate Panel Unveils Draft Bill to Combat Opioid Addiction, Roll Call, 4/5/18 |
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Political Graphic of the Week
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| PAC Participation Leader Board by State
Click here, to view the interactive version of the map below, which features each state’s PAC support for 2017. |
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