capitol hill report: MEMBERS MAKE THEIR ADVOCACY PRIORITIES CLEAR

March 7, 2022

Latest Advocacy News

• On February 23, a federal court struck down a key provision of recently finalized regulations implementing the federal law banning surprise billing. The provision had instructed mediators tasked with resolving payment disputes between payers and providers to use a presumption in favor of the “qualifying payment amount” when determining the payment owed to an out-of-network provider. The AAN previously submitted comments raising concerns that this presumption is biased against providers and urged the administration to reconsider this decision.
• The AAN has launched a new campaign to urge Congress to increase funding for the VA Neurology Centers of Excellence that focus on epilepsy, headache, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease for fiscal year 2023. This effort builds off the success the AAN had during fiscal year 2022 in supporting these centers. If you are willing to assist in this effort, please fill out this form and AAN staff will work with you to coordinate submitting a request with your congressional office.
• We have started to hear stories from our 34 AAN members living in Ukraine. We want to share these stories published in Neurology Today® with you so you can continue to keep your colleagues in Ukraine in your thoughts.

Issue in Focus

Each year, the AAN asks members to rank their top policy priorities to help us determine our areas of focus for the year ahead. In the online survey issued last November and December, 594 respondents ranked the top three issues they felt should be AAN policy priorities in 2022 as administrative burden associated with prior authorization (53 percent), drug costs (43 percent), and Medicare reimbursement (41 percent). Addressing workforce shortages for both neurologists and support staff was also identified as a rising topic of concern for members. Seventy-one percent of respondents said financial barriers to patient care was a top issue for their patients.

High drug costs lead to use management techniques like prior authorization. Until high drug costs are addressed, we will continue to see the use of burdensome policies to restrict access. The AAN remains committed to strong support for policies to address both prior authorization and high drug costs. You can lend your voice to this effort. Look for an Action Alert on prior authorization next week in your email inbox.

The Academy continues to strongly support legislative and regulatory policies that value evaluation and management services. We continue to focus on efforts to protect the gains made last year and will work to head off challenges in the year ahead.

What We're Reading

• Healthcare a Major Player in State of the Union Address (Medpage Today)
• Aducanumab Use in Symptomatic Alzheimer Disease Evidence in Focus: Report of the AAN Guidelines Subcommittee (Neurology)
• Prices Increased Faster Than Inflation for Half of all Drugs Covered by Medicare in 2020 (KFF)