MEMBERS LOBBY DC LAWMAKERS FROM AFAR

May 24, 2021

Neurology on the Hill Is a Virtual Success

Member Perspective by Bruce H. Cohen, MD, FAAN; Chair, AAN Advocacy Committee

Bruce Cohen, MD, FAAN, with the Ohio delegation from last year's Neurology on the Hill. Also pictured: Marsha Smith, MD, FAAN, Chinasa Nwankwo, MD, Laura Danielson, MD, Smeer Salam, MD, MBBS, James Addington, MD, Brett Kissela, MD, FAAN, MS, Daniel Freedman, DO, and Samuel Cohn, MD.

As the new chair of the AAN Advocacy Committee, I was excited to participate in this year’s Neurology on the Hill (NOH) event on May 19. Although I’ve participated in NOH before, this was our first ever virtual iteration of the event, which allowed me to meet with my congressional offices without having to travel to Washington, DC. Although I missed walking all over Capitol Hill in my green bow tie with my colleagues from Ohio, it was great we were still able to represent our neurology profession and our patients this year.

The first Neurology on the Hill was held in 2003 with 30 attendees, with a goal to increase awareness of issues affecting our patients and the practice of neurology on Capitol Hill and advocate for our profession’s top legislative issues. There were 189 attendees total this year from 46 states, with 67 first-time attendees.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year we talked to our members of Congress about our experiences over the past year, focusing on the following issues:

Telehealth – by asking members of Congress to support the Telehealth Modernization Act (S. 368/H.R. 1332) and the CONNECT for Health Act (S. 1512/H.R. 2903), bills that would make permanent telehealth flexibilities implemented as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency
Research Relief and Recovery Funding – by asking members of Congress to support the RISE Act (S. 289/H.R. 869), a bill that authorizes $25 billion in emergency relief and recovery funds for federal science agencies, including the NIH
Medicare Patient Access – by urging Congress to take action to avoid Medicare cuts scheduled to go into effect at the end of 2021

Much of the value of NOH occurs in the days before we visit congress – this is the time we meet with other members of our state’s delegation. This is a time when the senior and junior members from other practices meet and learn from each other. This year I learned of a clinical program formed by a colleague practicing on the other side of the state and have already made a patient referral. The value of this professional bonding goes beyond words. The issues this year are all clearly patient-facing and critical for neurologists to be able to care for our patients, now and in the future. Our group felt we were effective at delivering our message and we kept the interest of our senator’s staff. In a smaller group, we met with our representative and these smaller meetings are naturally more conversational because they are 1-on-1 or 2-on-1. Dr. Allison Weathers and I had a truly delightful meeting.

Don’t forget, if you were unable to attend NOH this year you can contact your members of Congress too on these issues by using the AAN Advocacy Action Center. You also can see pictures from the event on social media by searching the hashtags #NOH21 and #AANadvocacy.

Regulatory Relief Advocacy Update

Given the alarmingly high rate of burnout among neurologists, the AAN is continually advocating for policies to help decrease regulatory and administrative burdens. Most recently, the AAN endorsed the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, a bipartisan bill to streamline and standardize prior authorization in Medicare Advantage. This bill was re-introduced in the House of Representatives after gaining 280 bipartisan cosponsors in the last Congress and being one of our priority issues at 2020 Neurology on the Hill. This bill is also a priority of the Regulatory Relief Coalition, a group of national physician specialty organizations, including the AAN, that are advocating for regulatory burden reduction in Medicare, so physicians can spend more time treating patients.