ACS Advocacy Brief: June 12, 2025

ACS Urges Congress to Protect Financial Aid Programs for Medical Students

The ACS joined a coalition letter calling on Congress to protect access to critical financial assistance for medical students.

The House of Representatives recently advanced a proposal that would eliminate the Grad PLUS program, impose new aggregate limits on Direct Loan borrowing, and limit eligibility to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, particularly for physician residents.

The letter, signed by 46 medical societies, expresses concern that eliminating Grad PLUS or restricting aggregate lending may worsen the physician workforce shortage by reducing access to medical school for many students. In addition, making medical residents ineligible for the PSLF program may disincentivize these physicians from practicing in nonprofit hospitals, public health departments, and community clinics in rural areas where shortages already exist.

Visit SurgeonsVoice and urge your Senators to protect access to federal student loans for medical students. 

College Joins Opposition to Medicaid Cuts

The ACS and members of the Trauma Coalition representing surgeons, trauma and emergency nurses, emergency medical services professionals, trauma and burn centers, and blood centers sent a letter to congressional leadership highlighting the critical role of Medicaid in the nation’s trauma care system.

Medicaid funding plays a pivotal role in sustaining trauma systems, particularly in rural and underserved communities where Medicaid enrollment is high, and trauma centers often serve as the sole source of advanced emergency care. Trauma systems rely on Medicaid funds to recruit and retain specialized providers, maintain 24/7 readiness, and invest in the infrastructure needed for rapid response—including operating rooms, intensive care units, burn units, and emergency transport systems.

The Coalition urged Congress to preserve and maintain Medicaid funding as a necessary investment in America’s trauma care capacity, public health readiness, and military-civilian preparedness.

Visit SurgeonsVoice and urge your Senators to protect access to Medicaid.

ACS Leads Major Medical Organizations in Fight to Enhance Medicare Payments

This past Friday, the ACS sent a letter, signed by 30 other major medical and surgical organizations that it gathered together, to Senate leaders urging them to enhance Medicare physician payment provisions that were included in the House reconciliation bill. 

The ACS commended Representatives Greg Murphy, MD, FACS (R-NC), and John Joyce, MD (R-PA), as well as other members of the House Republican Doctors Caucus for their work in advancing significant structural reforms to Medicare physician payment. However, the House bill, as currently written, doesn’t return physician payments to 2024 rates until 2029. That is not sufficient for alleviating surgeons’ acute financial stress and was the motivation for the letter to Senate leaders.

The ACS will continue working with lawmakers to ensure a stable and sustainable payment system for physicians and the patients they serve.

Visit SurgeonsVoice today and urge your senators to address Medicare physician payment when they consider the budget reconciliation bill.

Statement Addresses Increase in E-Bike Injuries

Electric bicycles (e-bike) are an increasingly popular mode of transportation and recreation. However, their use is associated with a growing number of serious injuries, particularly among children and adolescents. The ACS recognizes the need to address this emerging public safety problem through evidence-based policy and injury prevention strategies. 

As a result, the ACS Committee on Trauma gathered a group of experts, including trauma, pediatric, and orthopaedic surgeons to develop recommendations for policies at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure the safe use of electric bicycles and prevent avoidable injuries.

The Statement on Electric Bicycle Safety and Injury Prevention was approved during the June ACS Board of Regents meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

Read the statement.

Register Now to Attend August Coding Courses in Nashville

Medicare and third-party payor policy and coding changes require that surgeons and their coding staff have accurate and up-to-date information to protect reimbursement and optimize efficiency—and the next in-person ACS/KZA General Surgery Coding Course, August 21–22 at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, can help.

ACS members and their staff receive a registration discount, so register today. Attendees can choose one or both full-day sessions and receive 14 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for attending both days.

Strengthening Your Surgical Coding Skills for General Surgery 2025
Thursday, August 21 | 8:00 am–5:00 pm CT

This course covers the most common practice issues affecting general surgeons: prior authorization, wRVUs, denials, and unlisted codes. Participants will receive in-depth and clinically relevant instruction on coding for numerous procedures, from hernia repair to breast surgery and more. With detailed clinical scenarios and a comprehensive workbook, course participants will leave with the skills necessary for accurate and efficient coding in 2025 and beyond.

Strengthening Your Acute Trauma Surgery & Critical Care Coding 2025
Friday, August 22 | 8:00 am–4:00 pm CT

This intensive, fast-paced workshop is designed to meet the extensive documentation, coding, and billing challenges of the trauma coding and billing team. By reviewing real-life examples, you will learn what documentation does and does not work. You will also see what alternatives are available to critical care and how to use these codes for optimal reimbursement. Actual trauma operative notes will be reviewed in detail, showing what can and cannot be billed in a clinical trauma scenario.

Book here before Tuesday, July 22 to receive the special room rate of $249 per night, plus tax, at Nashville’s Loews Vanderbilt Hotel.

For more information about the ACS/KZA General Surgery Coding Course, contact KZA or email practicemanagement@facs.org.

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