January 26, 2010 On January 20th, SAS President Tom Errico and leaders from eight other professional spine societies met with the medical leadership of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBS-NC) to discuss the spine community’s concerns with a newly published BCBS-NC policy on lumbar fusions. The posting of the policy by BCBS-NC...

SAS/ISASS would like to alert you to the US House of Representatives passage of the Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010 related to Medicare and Tricare payments: A few moments ago, the House of Representatives passed by voice vote legislation that would prevent the December 1st 23 percent cut to Medicare and Tricare...

SAS/ISASS would like to alert you to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal covering Congressman Darrell Issa’s (incoming chairman of the House’s chief investigative committee) goal of “cutting the overuse of expensive medical procedures…. …data came in a report suggesting that expensive cardiovascular and orthopedic implants are overused by doctors, sometimes...

SAS/ISASS thought you would be interested in two recent articles in Orthopedics This Week (OTW) advocating support for spine surgeons and patients. OTW is providing non-subscribers of the SAS with a “community pass” which allows the members unlimited access to ALL articles. The pass is renewable and allows members to download full PDFs of articles....