AAOS on CJR Delay Legislation

Washington, DC—Today, Reps. Tom Price (R-GA) and David Scott (D-GA) introduced legislation to delay implementation of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model – a bundled payment program mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and set to start on April 1, 2016. The model affects hospitals in 67 geographical areas and targets the most common inpatient surgeries for Medicare beneficiaries: hip and knee replacements, both elective and non-elective, as well as other lower extremity joint replacement procedures and the repair of hip fractures. H.R. 4848, the Healthy Inpatient Procedures (HIP) Act, would delay CJR implementation until January 1, 2018, ensuring that physicians, hospitals, and post-acute care providers have adequate time to prepare for the onset of this complex payment system.

“AAOS commends Chairman Price and Congressman Scott on the introduction of H.R. 4848,” stated Gerald R. Williams, Jr., MD, President, American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). “The CJR model mandated by CMS requires comprehensive planning and coordination between hospitals, physicians, and post-acute care providers, as well as complete infrastructural support. While AAOS embraces initiatives that improve quality and lower cost, it is important that all stakeholders have adequate time to prepare for this kind of substantial change to our health care delivery system in order to avoid any disruption to normal patient access and care patterns.”

“AAOS members have proven they are leaders in developing, implementing, and evaluating episode of care payments,” stated Thomas C. Barber, MD, Chair of the AAOS Council on Advocacy. “But the patient must be the primary focus of all initiatives. Without a delay, many CJR participants may face startup and integration problems, making it more difficult to achieve improvements in patient quality of care as well as in costs. We thank Chairman Price and Congressman Scott for introducing H.R. 4848 to address this important issue and we look forward to working together to improve the care of all musculoskeletal patients in the United States.”

For further information:

• AAOS comments on the final rule
• AAOS comments on the proposed rule

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For more information about the AAOS Office of Government Relations: www.aaos.org/dc