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Healthcare Policy News
AAOS Priority Legislation Highlighted in Congressional Mental Health Hearing
Telemedicine and prior authorization were heavily featured topics during the Ways and Means Committee hearing held Feb. 2 on the nation’s mental health crisis. U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) mentioned the AAOS-supported Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act (H.R. 3173) and stressed how current prior authorization processes negatively impact the mental health of both physicians and patients. Witness Deborah Steinberg, J.D., who is a health policy attorney for the Legal Action Center, called prior authorizations “burdensome and unnecessary utilization management practices.” She explained that the removal of prior authorization is associated with more people receiving treatment and fewer hospitalizations. When the committee moved onto discussing telemedicine, Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) called the telehealth boom the “silver lining” of the pandemic and the committee agreed that telemedicine flexibilities must continue beyond the public health emergency. AAOS has endorsed five telemedicine-related bills this Congress alone and continues to advocate for the permanent extension of flexibilities for these valuable services. Learn more about AAOS advocacy on telehealth and prior authorization…
HHS Seeking Public Comment on Electronic Prior Authorization Standards
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released a Request for Information on the implementation and certification of electronic prior authorization standards. ONC says that it plans to use the responses collected to guide future rulemaking for easing the burden physicians face in meeting prior authorization requirements imposed by payors. The agency views the electronic prior authorization process, with support from the ONC Health IT Certification Program, as one solution to the increasing burden of prior authorization requirements. Toward this end, ONC has initiated a task force of industry stakeholders to respond to the Request for Information. Likewise, AAOS plans to respond and is committed to seeking legislative and regulatory relief for the increasingly disruptive prior authorization requirements. Read the HHS press release…
Additional $2 Billion Being Distributed in Provider Relief Fund Payments
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Jan. 25 that it is distributing $2 billion more in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments to more than 7,600 healthcare professionals across the country this week. A total of nearly $11 billion in PRF Phase 4 payments have now been distributed to more than 74,000 individuals in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and five territories. These funds are in addition to the distribution of American Rescue Plan Rural payments in December 2021, totaling nearly $7.5 billion in funding to more than 43,000 healthcare professionals. Read the full announcement… |
