Advocacy: Medicare Payments and Safe VA Care

ASA successfully advocated at both the state and federal level in support of the economic well-being of anesthesiologists’ practices and patient access to safe, high-quality anesthesia care. This winning season spanned a broad range of policy issues that kept access to safe, physician-led anesthesia care at the forefront. Successes include:

• Obtained approval for anesthesiologists and pain physicians to receive Medicare payments for fascial plane blocks through new CPT^® codes.
• Stymied efforts by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Nursing Services to eliminate physicians from the care team for more than 10 years to date.