by David A. Halsey, MD, AAOS President

As you know, in the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, CMS identified several potentially current procedural terminology (CPT) codes as “misvalued”, including 27130 (total hip arthroplasty) and 27447 (total knee arthroplasty).

AAHKS and AAOS do not believe that these codes are incorrectly valued. The codes were most recently reviewed by the AMA RVS Update Committee (RUC) in 2013 and further refined by CMS at the request of AAOS. Neither AAHKS nor AAOS believe there is compelling evidence to suggest that physician work or practice expense has changed in the past five years.

AAHKS, AAOS OGR and the Orthopaedic PAC are committed to advocacy on behalf of our members to maintain fair payment, as well as promoting patient access to highly successful procedures. Factoring in lifetime societal savings of over $31 billion for hip and knee replacement alone, any policy change that impairs access to high quality orthopaedic care is not in the best interest of society at large.

Our Orthopaedic PAC, the largest physician PAC in the nation, is rebuilding its war chest and will get to work on day one of the newly-elected 116th Congress – protecting our entire profession and the patients we serve. Invest in your future. Text AAHKS to 4144 or click here to donate.

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