The NASS Advocacy program stresses the importance of policies that preserve patient access to high quality, evidence-based specialty care. The Advocacy Committee and staff make their best effort to address each issue that arises, with particular focus on physician reimbursement, medical liability reform, and quality improvement legislation. NASS Advocacy also spent a significant amount of time challenging health care reform proposals that would negatively impact specialists, and will continue to challenge the implementation of provisions that place patient access to high quality specialty care at risk.
NASS Advocacy Priorities:
Challenging key Health Care Reform provisions that will diminish access to specialty care and place specialty practices and patients at risk. These issues include an Independent Payment Advisory Board, Comparative Effectiveness Research language, and provisions that attempt o further cut physician reimbursements.
Reforming the Medicare program to guarantee access to high-quality, specialty care for the country’s aging population and ensure a fair physician reimbursement system that accurately accounts for the true costs of delivering health care services.
Addressing the professional liability insurance crisis and the resulting gaps in the health care safety net by supporting reforms intended to reduce frivolous lawsuits and stabilize insurance premium costs.
Promoting patient safety initiatives aimed at decreasing medical errors and improving health care quality, including a system of voluntary, confidential reporting and evaluation of patient safety data.
NASS Advocacy Position Papers:
NASS Advocacy develops position papers on key legislative issues affecting specialists to aid in our advocacy efforts. The following papers have been finalized, with several more currently under development.