ASA Leads Congressional Push to Preserve Patient Access to Peripheral Nerve Blocks

ASA, along with a coalition of respected national pain medicine organizations known as the Pain Medicine Coalition, worked with key Congressional Medicare stakeholders to support access to non-opioid pain treatments, part of an ongoing fight against the opioid abuse epidemic. In a Congressional request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) endorsed by ASA and the organizations, the lawmakers urged the agency to halt the recently proposed policies that deny coverage and payment for peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs).  The formal Congressional correspondence urged CMS to ensure that Medicare continues to cover these vital non-opioid procedures for patients with chronic pain. ASA and the groups applaud Rep. Brittany Pettersen and Rep. Claudia Tenney, who led the request to CMS.

“As our nation continues to recover from the ongoing impacts of the opioid abuse epidemic, non-opioid alternatives are a critical component to ensuring pain management and increased quality of life,” said ASA President Patrick Giam, MD. “Anesthesiologists are experts in pain management and we strongly urge CMS to take action to continue access to peripheral nerve blocks and similar procedures.”

The proposals would deny coverage for peripheral nerve blocks and procedures for chronic pain and were put forth by five Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs), who determine policy coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. The Pain Medicine Coalition, made up of ASA, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA PM), the International Pain and Spine Intervention Society (IPSIS), and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R), strongly oppose the proposals. 

As the lawmakers stated in their letter: “Should non-opioid procedures become unavailable to patients who frequently need pain management treatment, it is possible it could result in a spike in opioid use and misuse. Access to effective treatments, like PNBs, that avoid exposure to addictive opioid drugs are crucial to fighting the opioid epidemic that continues to claim the lives of Americans.”

 Read the ASA News Release.