Financial relief provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act won't be enough to keep musculoskeletal care providers afloat after the COVID-19 crisis, the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons said in an April 10 letter to congressional leaders.
Signed by nearly five dozen industry organizations, the letter was addressed to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It requests extra support for musculoskeletal care providers financially devastated by the COVID-19 crisis.
"Orthopaedic surgeons are complying with CMS guidance to postpone elective surgeries, leading directly to plummeting case volumes, with practices struggling to stay in business and keep their employees on staff," said AAOS President Joseph Bosco III, MD. "As the pandemic becomes more manageable and these surgeries can take place, we are concerned that too many of our private practices will have become financially insolvent, threatening access to care."
The financial impact of the crisis exceeds $1 million for more than one-third of AAOS members the organization recently surveyed. On average, each respondent has canceled or indefinitely postponed 150 surgeries, and nearly half of respondents saw volumes drop by at least 80 percent.
Given these circumstances, AAOS asked Congress to take the following actions:
1. Prioritize relief under CARES for physician practices in communities at risk of losing access to musculoskeletal care.
2. Extend the recoupment deadline in the Medicare accelerated payments program to Dec. 31, 2021, to accommodate providers and facilities who can't afford earlier repayment.
3. Pass the Immediate Relief for Rural Facilities and Providers Act.
4. Expand eligibility under the Paycheck Protection Program to physician practices with more than 500 employees that are struggling to maintain staff.
5. Provide blanket liability protections for physicians who are working outside their normal practice area but aren't covered by the CARES Act's "good samaritan language."
6. Cover physicians, healthcare workers and first responders under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act's paid sick leave provisions.
Click here to read the letter.