The NASS Advocacy Committee and staff continue to monitor the progress of Congress’ work on health care reform and engage in the debate as the process moves forward. Speaker Pelosi and the House Democratic leadership have introduced a new health care reform package that includes two bills. The first, HR 3961, “The Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009,” would replace Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) Formula with a system that provides reimbursements based on GDP plus 2% for E/M and preventive care services, and GDP plus 1% for all other services. The second bill, HR 3962, “Affordable Health Care for America Act,” is a comprehensive health care reform bill that includes provisions covering comparative effectiveness research, physician/industry relations and medical liability. The bill would also create a health coverage exchange and public plan option.

Following the release of these bills, the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, of which NASS is a member, drafted a letter to the House Democratic leaders supporting the replacement of the SGR and voicing concerns with provisions in HR 3962 that would restrict patient access to care and infringe on the physician/patient relationship. View the letter in its entirety here.

Contact the NASS Advocacy staff at advocacy@spine.org or (630) 230-3600 with any questions relating to NASS’ efforts on health care reform.