ASA Rebukes CMS Rule for Jeopardizing Patient Safety and Quality Health Care

ASA today expressed its serious concern regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) decision to adopt a new and untested national policy that will allow Medicare funds to be used to pay untrained providers to diagnose and treat chronic pain. The policy jeopardizes patient safety, lowers the quality of health care and increases the risk for fraud and prescription drug abuse.

"The basic premise of this rule is flawed," said ASA President John M. Zerwas, M.D. "At a time when government health care programs are spending millions of dollars pursuing comparative effectiveness, value-based payments and other quality related measures, it is baffling that CMS would pursue a policy departing so considerably from using evidence-based norms and the 'triple aim' of improving care, improving health and reducing cost." 

Read ASA's full response.

Read chronic pain excerpt of CMS rule.

Read full CMS rule.