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American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons

Advocacy, Education, Research

Advocacy Action Letters

AAHKS leads the effort to influence the law-making process on matters of hip and knee arthroplasty. These letters, sent to elected officials and government agencies, state our position on issues and provide specific direction to legislation.

2018

June 25, 2018 Comment Letter to CMS
CMS Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (IPPS) FY2019 Proposed Rule – AAHKS comment letter
AAOS-AAHKS Sign on letter

May 10, 2018 Letter to National Council of State Boards of Nursing 
National Council of State Boards of Nursing Provisions of the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact that alter state laws related to APRN scope of practice

March 21, 2018 Comment Letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma
Removal of Total Knee Arthroplasty From the Medicare Inpatient Only List

February 21, 2018 Comment Letter to CMS
Bundled Payment for Care Improvement (BPCI) Advanced Request for Application Comment Sign on with AAOS

2017

November 20, 2017 Comment Letter to CMS
Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) New Direction Request for Information

November 20, 2017 Comment Letter to CMS and Acumen, LLC
MACRA Episode-Based Cost Measures Field Testing, Total Knee Arthroplasty Measure – AAHKS and The Knee Society Sign On

October 16, 2017 Comment Letters to CMS
CMS-5524-P: Medicare Program; Cancellation of Advancing Care Coordination Through Episode Payment and Cardiac Rehabilitation Incentive Payment Models; Changes to Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Payment Model
AAHKS Comment Letter
AAOS-AAHKS Sign on Letter
Summary of Final Rule
CJR Hospital List with Status under December 2017 Final Rule

September 11, 2017 Comment Letter to CMS
CY 2018 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems Proposed Rule
Final Rule Summary

September 11, 2017 Comment Letter to CMS
CY 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule

August 25, 2017 Submission to the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Health
Medicare Red Tape Relief Project Submissions

August 21, 2017 Comment Letter to CMS
Medicare Program; CY 2018 Updates to the Quality Payment Program (CMS-5522-P)
QPP Final Rule Summary

June 13, 2017 Comment Letter to CMS
Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Proposed Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2018 Rates

June 7, 2017 Endorsement Letter
Letter supporting the introduction of “Increasing Access to Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2017″ in Congress – Sign-on with AAOS

March 21, 2017 Comment Letter to CMS
Letter requesting easing of penalties for physicians in the area of PQRS, MU and Value based Payment Modifier, in MIPS reporting under MACRA – Sign-on with AMA

February 27, 2017 Letter to CMS and ONC
Letter requesting deferment from implementing 2015 Edition certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) – Sign-on with AMA

February 1, 2017 Letter of Support to the Senate Finance Committee
AAHKS Letter of Support for the nomination of Dr. Tom Price as HHS Secretary

January 6, 2017
CMS Medicare Quality Payment Program Patient Relationship Categories and Codes Comment Letter

2016

October 3, 2016 Comment Letter to CMS
CMS–5519–P: Advancing Care Coordination through Episode Payment Models (EPMs); Cardiac Rehabilitation Incentive Payment Model; and Changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model (CJR)
AAHKS Comment Letter
AAOS-AAHKS Joint Comment Letter

September 6, 2016 Comment Letter to CMS
CY 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule

September 6, 2016 Comment Letter to CMS
CY 2017 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems Proposed Rule

August 24, 2016 Comment Letters to AHRQ
Draft manuscript entitled “Comparative Effective Review: Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in Major Orthopaedic Surgery: Systematic Review Update”
AAHKS Comment Letter
AAOS-AAHKS Joint Comment Letter

August 23, 2016 Letter to CMS
Recommending CMS restore the Refinement Panel to serve as the relative value appeals process – Sign-on with AMA

August 11, 2016 Endorsement Letter to Speaker Ryan
Support of 21st Century Cures Bill – Sign-on with AMA

July 22, 2016 Comment Letter to David J. Shulkin, MD, Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs
RIN 2900–AP44-Advanced Practice Registered Nurses; Proposed Rule – Sign-on with AMA

July 11, 2016 Comment Letter to Representatives Ellmers and DeGette
H.R. 1221, the Helping Ensure Life- and Limb-Saving Access to Podiatric Physicians (HELLPP) Act – Sign-on with AAOS

June 29, 2016 Endorsement Letter to Senator Barrasso
S. 2978, the Protect Continuing Physician Education and Patient Care Act – Sign-on with AMA

June 27, 2016 Comment Letters to CMS 
Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Incentive Under the Physician Fee Schedule, and Criteria for Physician-Focused Payment Models; Proposed Rule (CMS-5517-P)
AAHKS Comments
AAOS sign-on letter
AMA sign-on letter

June 17, 2016 Comment Letter to CMS
FY 2017 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems Proposed Rule

June 7, 2016 Endorsement Letter to Senators Blunt and Reed; Congressmen Collins and Courtney
H.R. 1859/S. 2782, the Ensuring Children’s Access to Specialty Care Act – Sign-on

June 3, 2016 Comment Letter to ONC
Request for Information regarding Assessing Interoperability for MACRA – sign-on with AAOS

May 20, 2016 Open Letter to NIH
Review and Funding of Clinically Impactful Research Grants – sign-on with AAOS

March 29, 2016 Comment Letter to CMS
Medicare Program: Expanding Uses of Medicare Data by Qualified Entities

March 28, 2016 Comment Letter to the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (LAN)
Accelerating and Aligning Clinical Episode Payment Models: Elective Joint Replacement draft white paper

March 1, 2016 Comment Letter to CMS
Quality Measure Development Plan: Supporting the Transition to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Models (APMs)

2015

November 17, 2015 Comment letter to CMS
Merit-Based Incentive Payment System and Alternative Payment Models under the new Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA)

November 2, 2015 Letter to U.S. Senate
Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use Program

September 21, 2015 Letter to CMS from Congressman Tom Price, MD
Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Payment Model

September 8, 2015 Comment letter to CMS
Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Payment Model

August 7, 2015 Comment letter to National Government Services, Inc.
Draft LCD DL36039 — Total Joint Arthroplasty (Jurisdiction 6 and Jurisdiction K)

June 17, 2015 Joint letter to House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Support and comments on the 21st Century Cures initiative

June 15, 2015 Letter to US Representative Diane Black
Support for H.R. 2247 “Increasing Clarity for Doctors by Transitioning Effectively Now Act” (ICD-TEN Act)

June 15, 2015 Comment letter to CMS
Medicare Program: Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule for FY 2016 (CMS-1632-P)

May 29, 2015 Comment letter to CMS
CMS-3310-P Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program – Stage 3

May 6, 2015 Letter to Congress
Repeal of IPAB

April 27, 2015 – Comment letter to CMS Deputy Administrator for Innovation & Quality
AAMC recommendation to create a new DRG for hip fractures.

March 30, 2015 – Comment letter to CMS
The development of a measure for risk adjusted improvement in functional status after total hip and knee replacement.

March 16, 2015 – Multi-Specialty Letter to House Speaker, John A. Boehner
Repeal of failed SGR before the expiration of the current payment patch.

March 4, 2015 – Comment letter to CMS/HHS
ICD-10 requirement starting October 1, 2015

2014

November 20, 2014 – Comment letter to Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation and the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) for CMS
Development of Measures of Payment for Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) and/or Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA)

November 6, 2014 – Comment letter to Novitas Solutions, Inc.
Draft LCD – Lower Extremity Major Joint Replacement (Hip and Knee), DL35594 (Jurisdictions H & L)

October 17, 2014 – Comment letter to Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)
Validating relative value units (RVU) in the Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS)

August 28, 2014 – Comment letter to CMS
Medicare Payment Policies under the Proposed Physician Fee Schedule for CY 2015 [CMS-1612-P]

June 27, 2014 – Comment letter to CMS
Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Proposed Rule for FY2015 (CMS-1607-P)

January 9, 2014 – Comment letter to CMS
CMS 1600-FC, Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for CY 2014: Interim Hip and Knee Replacement RVUs

2013

April 10, 2013 – Comment letter to US House of Representatives
SGR Repeal and Reform Proposal – Second Draft

March 29, 2013 – Comment letter to CMS
Request for Information on the Use of CQMs Reported Under the PQRS, the EHR Incentive Program, and Other Reporting Programs (CMS-3276-NC)