As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, which ended the recent partial government shutdown, Congress extended several Medicare telehealth flexibilities through Dec. 31, 2027. These policies, originally introduced during the COVID-19 public health emergency, were set to expire Jan. 30, 2026. The [...]
After advocacy efforts by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and other medical organizations, UnitedHealthcare has announced a delay in implementing its remote patient monitoring policy. The AASM recently submitted a letter to UnitedHealthcare opposing its new remote patient monitoring policy and the [...]
On Jan. 2, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) submissions for the Quality Payment Program (QPP) can be submitted through 8 p.m. ET March 31, 2026. The AASM has developed the AASM MIPS Submission [...]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the CY 2026 Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) final rule on Oct. 31, 2025. AASM submitted a comprehensive comment letter to CMS outlining priority policy changes to protect patient access to sleep medicine services, ensure [...]
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has also signed on to a multispecialty coalition letter urging Elevance Health/Anthem to immediately rescind its newly announced Facility Administrative Policy: Use of a Nonparticipating Care Provider. The policy, set to take effect Jan. 1, 2026, would [...]
Following the implementation of downcoding policies by two major private payers, Aetna and Cigna, effective Oct. 1, 2025, AASM analyzed payer trends and identified additional health plans with active or proposed downcoding programs targeting higher-level evaluation and management (E/M) services. These include Ambetter [...]
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine joined more than 450 national health care organizations in signing on to a letter urging Congress to pass a long-term solution for Medicare telehealth coverage. The letter, sent to congressional leaders on Nov. 4, 2025, highlights how repeated [...]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued the calendar year 2026 Medicare physician fee schedule final rule, outlining policy and payment changes that will take effect Jan. 1, 2026. The physician fee schedule governs payment for physician and other health professional [...]
On Oct. 15, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that clinicians who participated in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in 2024 may now view their performance feedback, which includes the final score and payment adjustment factors. The final score determines [...]
In response to advocacy by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and other medical organizations, Cigna has agreed to pause its automatic downcoding policy — Evaluation and Management (E/M) Coding and Accuracy Policy (R49) — effective Oct. 1, 2025. In the AASM’s letter [...]