Policy & Guidelines
Capitol Hill Report: Neurology on the Hill Recap Capitol Hill Report presents regular updates on legislative and regulatory actions and how the Academy ensures that the voice of neurology is heard on Capitol Hill. It is emailed to US members twice monthly and is posted at AAN.com/view/HillReport. Below are some recent highlights. Neurology on the Hill Recap, by Joohi Jimenez-Shahed, MD, first time NOH attendee and member of the Advocacy Engagement Committee Every year, I see the emails from the AAN about Neurology on the Hill (NOH) come and go, and have admired those individuals who have actually taken the time out of their busy schedules to advocate on behalf of our profession and our patients on Capitol Hill. But what are they doing over there? What is advocacy for neurology? This year, I got to participate in NOH for the first time―and saw neurology advocacy in action, firsthand―a great experience! The reality is that we all fight advocacy battles on our home turf. It is a day-to-day necessity in order ensure that our patients get the medicines, tests, ancillary services, or even assistance that they need to live their lives to the best of their ability and preserve their quality of life. The act of asking someone else’s permission to be able to treat our patients the way we have been trained to treat them is a necessary burden that neurologists bear—but do we really need to? Did you know that the average neurologist’s office spends at least two days per week dealing with things like prior authorizations, the vast majority of which (approximately 90 percent) are approved anyway? In the meantime, our patients are subject to unnecessary treatment delays (on average, two to 14 days
Joohi Jimenez-Shahed, MD, (second from left) and the New York delegation.
but sometimes more) and our office staff is bogged down in redundant phone calls, faxes, and paperwork. One of the AAN priorities at NOH was to ask House legislators to support or cosponsor the Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2019. This bill increases transparency and streamlines prior authorization (PA) in Medicare Advantage Plans by (amongst other things)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), center, discussed health policy issues with David Moore, MD (left), and Stephen Rostad, MD (right).
(From left) Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) posed with Nina Riggins, MD.
(From left) Sameh Mo Rep. Matt Cartwright Committee Chair Gle
