Advocacy Alert: Resolution to Protect Peripheral Nerve Block Coverage Gains Bipartisan Support

Contact Your Representative Now!

Take action now: Click here and urge your Representative to join the bipartisan Pettersen-Tenney congressional letter calling on CMS to withdraw proposed Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) that would eliminate Medicare coverage for certain Peripheral Nerve Blocks (PNBs).

Last year, five Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) issued proposed LCDs that would remove Medicare coverage and payment for certain PNBs.

U.S. Representatives Brittany Pettersen (D-CO-7) and Claudia Tenney (R-NY-24) are leading this bipartisan congressional letter to protect patient access. Congressional offices pay close attention to outreach from physicians in their districts — your voice carries significant weight.

This legislative grassroots initiative is organized by the ASA, ASRA, AAPM&R, and IPSIS. The AAPM continues its advocacy efforts by disseminating this alert. The Academy has submitted detailed comments that reinforce clinical evidence, prevailing practice standards, and significant patient access concerns. This includes participation in MAC open meetings and coordinating oral comments with other pain societies.

Concerns regarding the proposed coverage-denying plans were heightened when the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a resolution from the House of Delegates. This resolution was co-authored and supported by the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) along with several national and state medical societies, urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to withdraw or delay these plans. Additionally, we are pleased to announce that our commentary titled “CMS Proposed Restrictions on Peripheral Nerve Blocks and Procedures for Chronic Pain: Clinical, Ethical, and Policy Implications for Millions of Americans,” submitted to Pain Medicine, has been accepted for publication.

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