Advocacy News

In a 50-plus-page letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator, we urged the agency to engage with Congress to ensure appropriate physician reimbursement and reform of the Medicare payment system.

We raised concerns about how these delays in treatment exacerbate health care disparities.

The Academy will raise scope concerns over CMS’ plan to create a combined new ophthalmology and optometry specialty set under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, a concept the agency unveiled in its 2023 proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.    

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed rule for Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System includes a 2.7% payment boost for 2023.  

Member stories powered the Academy’s successful advocacy against prior authorization.    

The Academy is urgently meeting with Humana regarding the insurer’s newly announced policy to require prior authorization for Medicare Advantage members in Georgia for cataract procedures.

Aetna has announced that starting July 1 it will stop requiring prior authorization for most cataract surgeries.  

The Academy has joined 120 state medical and national specialty societies to help develop and endorse the American Medical Association’s Characteristics of a Rational Medicare Physician Payment System.  

The Academy met with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and other physician and patient groups to ask the agency to reinstate a step therapy prohibition for Medicare Advantage plans for Part B drugs.      

The Academy has joined the AMA and other medical groups in an effort to change the Medicare physician payment system to improve the financial viability of physician practices and ease their administrative burdens.