AANEM Advocacy News Express

AANEM Staff Join GBS CIDP for Hill Day

    5/7/2014
On May 1, Executive Director Shirlyn Adkins, JD, and Health Policy Director Millie Birr, JD, MPP, joined the GBS CIDP Foundation International on its Hill Day visits with key legislators and their staff. The group met with a total of 18 congressional offices, asking representatives to sign a letter requesting data from CMS about the 2013 NCS reimbursement cuts’ impact on patients. 

OIG Utilizes AANEM Resources in Report on Questionable Medicare Billing in EDX Medicine

    4/9/2014
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its first evaluation on electrodiagnostic (EDX) testing earlier this week. Much of its analysis was based directly upon AANEM publications. The OIG undertook this study because, “Recent investigations have found that electrodiagnostic testing is an area vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse.”

Yet Another Temporary Patch to SGR...and ICD-10 delay

    4/1/2014
On March 31, 2014, the Senate passed the House’s temporary patch to the SGR, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014. Assuming the President signs the legislation, this will be the 17th such patch to the SGR.

CMS Suspends RAC Audits

    3/26/2014
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced a temporary suspension of its new recovery audit contractor (RAC) audits until sometime this fall.

AANEM Board Endorses Value Based Payment System

    3/11/2014
The AANEM Board recently approved a new position statement, Electrodiagnostic Services: Pay for Quality. This paper recommends that payers offer value based (VB) payment models for electrodiagnostic (EDX) services to provide quality patient care, ensure timely treatment, and reduce health care costs.

CMS to Offer ICD-10 Testing in March

    1/29/2014
AANEM has learned that all Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will be offering real-time ICD-10 testing March 3-7, 2014.

Relief for EMG Reimbursement, NCS Cuts Remain

    12/10/2013
On Wednesday, November 27, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its 2014 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule containing its decision whether or not to change the established 2013 EMG and NCS relative value units for 2014.

FDA Granted More Power Over Drug Compounding Pharmacies

    12/4/2013
Last week, a bill was signed into law that grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more regulatory power over drug compounding pharmacies.

Recap: 2013 AMA House of Delegates Interim Meeting

    11/26/2013
During the AMA HOD interim meeting, the AANEM co-sponsored a resolution designed to resolve the disparities in health promotion and preventative screenings experienced by individuals with disabilities.

Referring and Ordering Denial Edits to be Implemented January

    11/8/2013
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has instructed Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to turn on an edit to deny claims without a valid referring or ordering National Provider Identifier.