Advocacy: RepresENTing You
The Academy is committed to advocating for the enactment of policies that strengthen the delivery of, and access to quality healthcare services in the United States.
The Academy is committed to advocating for the enactment of policies that strengthen the delivery of, and access to, quality healthcare services in the United States. The Academy also works to identify and combat harmful regulatory and coverage policies that threaten access to quality otolaryngology-head and neck services. The Academy staff actively engages with legislative and regulatory officials, at the national and state levels, and private payers to achieve these goals and protect the specialty, your practice, and your patients.
The 2022 Medicare Fee Schedule contains two new codes for otolaryngologists approved by CPT and valued by RUC after considerable work by the CPT/RUC teams and staff. Codes for implanting, removing, and revising hypoglossal nerve stimulators (64582, 64583, 62584) and drug induced sleep endoscopy (42975) became available for use in this calendar year. Please visit the Academy’s Coding Corner at https://www.entnet.org/content/coding-corner for additional updates, as well as the newest coding and reimbursement tools for members.
This year the Academy hosted a (virtual) Congressional Advocacy Day for the first time since 2019, where otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeons had the opportunity to engage with Members of Congress and their staff on the issues of importance to the specialty. Working in concert with other physician organizations and surgical societies, the Academy helped to avert a 9.75% cut to Medicare reimbursement for 2022. This year, we are focused on a permanent solution for this problem as well as advocating for Congress to pass a prior authorization bill for Medicare Advantage plans and weighing in on possible Medicare expansion to include hearing services and hearing aids. We are also heavily involved in the fallout from the regulations promulgated by the Biden Administration relating to the "No Surprises Act".
At the state level, there continues to be increased activity surrounding the Audiology & Speech Language Pathology Interstate Compact. The Academy has interacted with many states to prevent inappropriate scope-of-practice expansion.
The articles on the following pages will put a spotlight on select advocacy initiatives from the past year, along with some recent developments in health policy that impact the specialty, your practice, and your patients. Sign up to receive The ENT Advocate, a monthly newsletter that provides updates about the Academy’s advocacy efforts and the federal and state issues impacting your practice. Email govtaffairs@entnet.org to learn more.