Eyeworld

15 EW NEWS & OPINION by Tami O'Brien ASCRS Manager of PAC and Grassroots Preventing an additional 4% Medicare sequester cut The cut would have been triggered by passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act if we hadn't advocated for a waiver of the Senate's PAYGO budget rules. Passage of the tax bill would have required a 4% Medicare seques- ter that would have cut $25 billion from the program each year through 2027. The 4% sequester would have been on top of the existing 2% sequester. The PAYGO waiver was included in the Continuing Resolu- tion that passed the House and the Senate on December 21, 2017. What it means to you: An- other across-the-board reduction in your Medicare reimbursement was prevented. EW Contact information O'Brien: tobrien@ascrs.org Leading the effort to remove ophthalmology from the FDA's transplant drug division This effort paves the way for oph- thalmology to have its own division or have an ophthalmologist be the head of the division. Following advocacy led by ASCRS that an ophthalmologist head the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) division tasked with reviewing and approving ophthalmic drugs, we were informed in early February that, effective immediately, the ophthalmology clinical group has been separated from the transplant division and is now functioning out of the Office of New Drugs at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Further reorganization will be forthcoming. What it means to you: Oph- thalmology will no longer be com- bined with the transplant division and be overseen by a director with no ophthalmic experience. tially drastic cuts to Medicare. It's no longer a threat to your reimburse- ment or your patients' access to specialty care. Technical corrections to the MACRA statute These corrections were to help our members successfully participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The technical chang- es, for which ASCRS and the medical community have advocated during the past year, include (1) giving CMS the authority to extend the MIPS transition period for an additional 3 years before having to set the MIPS performance threshold at the mean or median of the previous year's score; (2) continuing to weigh the Cost category at less than 30% for 3 additional years and delaying the measurement of improvement; and (3) excluding Medicare Part B drugs from MIPS eligibility determinations and payment adjustments. What it means to you: With the transition to MIPS continu- ing for an additional 3 years, it's easier for our members to partic- ipate, avoid being penalized, and be eligible for bonuses. The MIPS pathway is essential for ASCRS and ASOA members, as there are no ophthalmology specific Alternative Payment Models (APMs) available at this time. I t's been an exciting time for ASCRS•ASOA Government Relations. As anyone who is politically active will tell you, legislative and regulatory change doesn't happen overnight. However, with persistence and the involvement of our members, we've seen our advocacy efforts pay off in recent months on a number of key issues. ASCRS•ASOA members have played an important role in shaping policy that affects ophthalmology. Below are a number of examples of recent advocacy victories. Repeal of Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) The IPAB was established under the Affordable Care Act to rein in exces- sive growth in Medicare spending. ASCRS has lobbied for IPAB repeal since its inception, and hundreds of ASCRS and ASOA members got involved in our advocacy efforts by responding to grassroots alerts and contacting their members of Con- gress. Additionally, ASCRS•ASOA attendees of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine Legislative Fly-In advocat- ed for repeal on Capitol Hill for the past several years. What it means to you: IPAB threatened to come between doctors and patients by giving unelected officials the power to make poten- ASCRS plays significant role in recent advocacy victories for ophthalmology April 2018 Interested in being part of these positive changes? Get off the sidelines and into the game today! How can you get involved? ASCRS and ASOA members • Visit ASCRSgrassroots.org and sign up to become an eyeContact. ASCRS•ASOA eyeContacts are actively engaged with elected offi- cials in their communities. Whether it be discussing issues with your senator while hand-delivering an eyePAC check, inviting your representative to visit your practice, hosting a fundraiser for a key candidate, or simply responding to a grassroots action alert, eyeContacts are active to the extent that suits their availability and comfort level. • Respond to alerts and requests to contact your elected officials. • Attend the annual Alliance of Specialty Medicine Legislative Fly-In. ASCRS members • Contribute to eyePAC at eyePAC.ascrs.org. (Contributions to eyePAC are entirely voluntary and are not tax deductible. Under federal law, you may contribute any amount up to $5,000 to eye- PAC. Only ASCRS members who are citizens or legal residents of the United States may contribute to eyePAC. The Federal Election Commission prohibits corporate contributions to eyePAC.) • Join the Committee of 52 peer-to-peer fundraising group and contact fellow ASCRS members in your state to encourage them to support eyePAC. Whether you're a seasoned advocate or someone who is interested in learning more about the political process and how you can make a difference, we want you on our team. For more information on how to get involved, contact Tami O'Brien, ASCRS manager of PAC and grassroots.

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