Legislation

August 16, 2023   AAOS Advocacy in Action   Expressed support, as part of the Regulatory Relief Coalition, for the GOLD Card Act which aims to streamline the prior authorization process for physicians (read more below). Joined the NIAMS Coalition in supporting the National Institutes of Health Clinical Trial Diversity Act (H.R. 3503) which will help ensure diversity in trials but also reduce disparities and improve the health of all Americans. AAOS News   AAOS Joins Coalition in [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Voiced support, along with other organizations representing physicians and patients, for the Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act (S. 470/H.R. 977). Joined with AAOS registries leadership and staff in meeting with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics to advocate for ease of access to Medicare claims data. Endorsed the Value in Health Care Act of 2023, which makes several important reforms to ensure that [...]

      AAOS' 2023 Orthopaedic Advocacy Week is just days away. This completely virtual advocacy effort will help shape policies to support patients and the profession through simple activities that only take a few minutes each day. Learn this year's healthcare policy issues, bookmark the webpage for when those activities go live next week, and be a part of the change to advocate for musculoskeletal care!     TAKE ACTION NOW         Healthcare Policy News [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Submitted comments on the draft United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI+) Quality data element list and reemphasized our support for the use of clinical data registries to manage collection and analysis. Joined a coalition of medical organizations representing the surgical specialties in outlining a plan for reforming the Medicare physician payment system (read more below).         AAOS News Two Week Countdown to 2023 Orthopaedic Advocacy Week In two weeks, from [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Advanced orthopaedic priorities last week at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association House of Delegates (read more below under healthcare policy news). Urged Congress to advance the Resident Education Deferred Interest Act that would allow borrowers to qualify for interest-free deferment on their student loans while serving in a medical or dental internship or residency program.         AAOS News Comments Submitted on 2024 Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Joined with organizations dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and adolescents in requesting $30 million in 2024 appropriations funding for the Pediatric Subspeciality Loan Repayment Program. Met with the White House Office of Management and Budget this week to discuss AAOS' position and forthcoming white paper on value-based musculoskeletal care. AAOS had similar meetings with HHS in March and with CMS in January as well as late last year.   [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Expressed support for the Prevent Blood Loss with Emergency Equipment Devices (BLEEDing) Act, which would help expand access to life-saving bleeding control kits in gathering places in communities across the country. Signed onto a letter of support for the Safe Step Act of 2023, which would establish guidelines for use of step therapy protocols and require a clear and transparent process for physicians and patients to request exceptions (read more below).       [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Submitted a statement for the record for last month's health subcommittee hearing on transparency and competition in healthcare, which suggested reimbursing physicians appropriately, increasing competition through physician-owned hospitals and safely addressing the inpatient only list. Summarized proposed changes for the 2024 Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment system and long-term care hospital prospective payment system for AAOS members to review.       The Bone Beat New Episode Conversations on health policy issues affecting musculoskeletal care... Surprise [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Joined with a group of national medical organizations, physician specialty societies and state medical associations in thanking the cosponsors of H.R. 2474, which would provide financial stability to practices in order to preserve access to care for Medicare beneficiaries. Voiced concerns to Horizon BCBS and Cigna regarding their new policies which create additional administrative burden for physicians who bill for services used the modifier 25 (read more below).       The Bone Beat New [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Supported the introduction of a bill that would change the physician payment rate above the current law by providing an annual Medicare physician payment update tied to inflation, as measured by the Medicare Economic Index (read more in AAOS News below). Urged Congress to continue funding the Pediatric Device Consortia Grant Program at $7 million in 2024. The program assists scientists and innovators with the technical and financial resources to improve the number of [...]