How We Advocate for You

We Demand Fair Reimbursement by:

• Working to repeal Medicare cuts to the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula

  • We recruited more than 10,100 AAN members since 2002 to contact Congress in support of a fix for SGR
  • We joined with other physician organizations to advocate on Capitol Hill in support of a permanent solution

• Working to ensure appropriate reimbursement for cognitive care

  • We met with Congress, CMS, and the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC) to encourage incentivizing cognitive care
  • We are coordinating with a coalition of other cognitive specialties to give more weight to our messages
  • We provide data to support the high value of neurologic care: Compelling Neurology Statistics and Evidence of High Quality Cost Efficient Neurologic Care

• Having neurology recognized for the primary care incentive bonus

  • We achieved a critical milestone by convincing the Congressional Budget Office to "score" the cost to add neurology
  • We gained the support of 24 US House members who signed a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging inclusion of neurology for the bonus
  • We instigated a letter signed by 21 patient organizations encouraging Congress to recognize neurology

We Give You Power by:

• Educating lawmakers about the value of a neurologist

  • We met directly with nearly 250 members of Congress in 2010
  • Our annual Neurology on the Hill brings more than 100 neurologists to Washington to meet legislators and staff
  • We leveraged BrainPAC, the Academy's political action committee, to establish relationships with key Congressional members

We Protect Your Practice by:

• Providing expert input on more than 50 private insurer medical policies at the national level in 2010

• Working for coding changes that recognize your efforts

  • We successfully persuaded CMS to recognize CPT® code 95992 (Canalith repositioning treatment) for separate reimbursement starting in 2011
  • We attained new CPT codes for salivary gland injection and sleep testing
  • We actively participate in the AMA CPT process through roles as an advisor to the CPT Editorial Panel, alternate advisor, and staff member

• Providing tools to improve your relationships with insurers

  • We introduced the new AAN Insurer Relations Toolkit in October 2010
    • Our Payer Predicament Form enables members to submit insurer issues online directly to the AAN
  • We are developing a library of model medical policies, including:
    • Intraoperative monitoring
    • Canalith repositioning
    • Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

We Defend Your Profession by:

• Advocating for your right to practice as you were trained

  • We monitor scope of practice bills in state legislatures to make sure others don't intrude on proper patient care
  • We alert policymakers of the risks and extra costs associated with allowing others to perform procedures that neurologists spend years, not hours, learning to do properly