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AMA forwards physician concerns about burdensome federal regulations to CMS
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A significant percentage of American Medical Association members have identified federal regulations they consider burdensome and inefficient, according to an AMA press release.
President Barack Obama issued an executive order in January calling for government agencies to reduce federal regulatory burdens.
In response to the order, the AMA conducted a survey asking member physicians and medical societies to identify problematic regulations and suggest ways to improve them. More than 2,000 physicians responded to the survey, the release said.
On April 13, Michael D. Maves, MD, MBA, executive vice president and CEO of the AMA, summarized members' concerns in a letter to Donald Berwick, MD, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
"Physicians' top concerns, including unfunded federal mandates, elimination of Medicare payment for physician consultations, and incompatible and inconsistent quality initiatives, offer a road map for CMS to make strategic changes that benefit the entire Medicare system," AMA president Cecil B. Wilson, MD, said in the release.
Three of five responding physicians cited unfunded mandates such as translators for Medicare and Medicaid patients, pre-authorization of prescription drugs covered by Medicare, financial and legal liability for poor or uninsured patients, and documentation and certification requirements, the letter said.
Forty-eight percent of respondents voiced concern about CMS prohibiting the use of consultation codes in Medicare and requiring physicians to bill for those services with lower-valued codes, according to the letter.
Other areas of concern included incompatible incentive programs, inconsistent audit policies and Medicare enrollment delays.
The AMA called for CMS to increase education efforts for physicians, reinstate consultation codes, align quality measures, reduce reporting burdens on physicians and target providers who violate regulations.
The letter is available here.