The American Association of Neurological Surgeons set its 2018 legislative and regulatory agenda.
The top issues AANS expects to address in 2018 are:
1. An improved healthcare delivery system, which would expand affordable health insurance coverage and allow individuals to choose their healthcare provider. The organization also would like to see Congress reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program.
2. Ensure quality opportunities for resident education and training, which would include providing additional funded residency positions and eliminating the current graduate medical education funding caps.
3. Advocate for comprehensive medical liability reform.
4. Keep medical innovation possible in the spine field and eliminate the medical device excise tax.
5. Support the Medicare quality improvement program restructuring and Congressional efforts to revisit the Medicare AUC Program for advanced diagnostic imaging.
6. Champion fair reimbursement, especially as bundled payments become more popular to ensure global fees are appropriate for neurosurgical procedures.
7. Move the Medicare program to a defined contribution model.