Congressional champions on the issue of reimbursement need help from members of AAHKS to recruit Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to join their letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Representatives Terri Sewell (D-AL), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) and Andy Harris (R-MD) have authored a letter urging CMS to maintain current reimbursement for hip and knee arthroplasty.
As you know, hip and knee surgeon services are facing potential changes in the 2021 CMS physician fee schedule rule. A revaluation could threaten access to care and create a disincentive for participating in alternative payment models (APMs). The methodology that CMS uses to establish the value of Medicare services does not consider the patient optimization time that surgeons provide. Potential changes could not come at a worse time for patients and surgical practices in the wake of delayed procedures and the financial impact of COVID-19. Hip and Knee surgeons cannot absorb more financial stress just as they are reopening their doors to the backlog of patients who need effective care to restore their mobility and free them from chronic pain.
AAHKS President C. Lowry Barnes, MD and AAHKS Health Policy Council Chair James I. Huddleston, MD recently sent a message to U.S. members about this issue. If you have not yet reached out to your Members of Congress to encourage them to sign the letter, please click here to use the AAHKS advocacy engagement tool.