Advocacy in Action | April 14, 2022

President Biden Sends Budget to Congress

On March 28, President Biden submitted his $5.8 trillion fiscal year 2023 budget request to Congress. The request is not binding but signals to Congress where he would like them to focus and prioritize funding. The budget requests $127 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (a $27 billion increase from the 2021 enacted level), $9.7 billion in discretionary funding for the CDC, and $49 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including $5 billion for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health inside the NIH.  The budget also supports extending telehealth coverage under Medicare beyond the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency to study its impact on the use of services and access to care by requesting $45 million to promote telehealth among providers and others. Learn about AAOS’s advocacy for orthopaedic research funding here… and telehealth advocacy on this page.

Healthcare Policy News

Public Health Emergency Extended for 90 Days
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra extended the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) by 90 days to mid-July. This extension provides ongoing public health benefits, such as expanded telehealth services, state support, and Medicaid coverage protections through July. Public health officials now see about 30,000 new COVID-19 cases daily, an uptick driven by the BA.2 subvariant of the virus. Experts monitoring the pandemic indicate that the number of cases is likely higher than reported since at-home tests are not captured in the data. Learn more here…

Deadline for Period 1 Provider Relief Reopened 
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced that it is reopening the reporting period for recipients of Period 1 Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments for those who received over $10,000 in aggregate between April 10, 2020 and June 30, 2020. This announcement follows advocacy efforts by physician groups to extend the reporting period in light of concerns that they had missed the deadline without being aware of it. In light of this request, the HRSA reporting period was reopened to allow those recipients experiencing extenuating circumstances to apply for a Request to Report Late. Examples of extenuating circumstances include severe illness or death, impact from a natural disaster, and several types of administrative errors or miscommunications regarding notification of the reporting period. It is important to note that submitting the request does not guarantee approval. Requests to Report Late may be submitted from Monday, April 11 to Friday, April 22. Learn the steps to request a late report…

Authorization Bill Gathers Cosponsors 

The AAOS-endorsed Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, designed to reform the burdensome prior authorization process within Medicare Advantage Plans, has accumulated 278 cosponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives and 22 cosponsors in the U.S. Senate. AAOS representatives work closely with the bill’s House and Senate sponsors to ensure the legislation receives a timely hearing, markup and gets included in any moving legislative package. AAOS participated in the Regulatory Relief Coalition’s Week of Action to spread awareness of the barriers to timely care presented by prior authorization and encourage Congressional action. In early April, a coalition of 46 mental health groups endorsed the legislation.

• Advocacy for Patient Care a Top Priority for AAOS’ New President (Carly Behm, Becker’s Spine Review, April 5, 2022)