The Council of State Neurosurgical Societies provides a national forum for socioeconomic issues concerning Neurological Surgery.
Joined June 2011
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CSNS retweeted
🚨 From the operating room to Capitol Hill! 🏛️🧠
A historic milestone for neurosurgery! Congratulations to John A. Cowan, Jr., MD, on his election to the US House of Representatives!
Congressman-elect Cowan and AANS/CNS Washington Committee Chair Alexander A. Khalessi, MD, MBA, reflect on this milestone and what it means for neurosurgery and patient-centered health care delivery.
📰 Read their remarks in the full press release!
@JohnCowanMD_GA
Another successful #CNS on the books!
Special thanks to our CSNS delegates and leaders who stayed for a fantastic #CNS2026, representing our organization and championing the socioeconomic issues that shape the future of neurosurgery.
@CNS_Update
Strong showing by our new CSNS Fellows this weekend! 💪
@KMcGrathDO
@MattPPereira
@eewicks
@g_ruizcolon
@KyleTuohyMD
CSNS Medical Directors Committee Update
Most neurosurgeons now practice in hospital-based models, but few were trained to navigate them.
Join us Nov. 1, 8 AM–12 PM at #CNS2026 in Washington, DC, for SYM13A: Hospital Employed Neurosurgeons Advocacy Forum.
Explore employment models, compensation, autonomy, physician value & advocacy.
Featured Faculty: Nicole Moayeri, Laila Mohammad, Omar Zalatimo (@OmarZalatimoMD), & Jason Stacy (@jasondeanstacy).
Panelists: Mateo Ziu (@MateoZiuMD), Michael Musacchio, Carrie Shulman, Nitin Agarwal (@NitinAgarwalMD), Richard Menger (@RMengerMD), Jeremy Phelps (@JNeurosurgery) & Dennis Oh.
Whether employed, negotiating, or mentoring, we hope you'll join us!
#Neurosurgery #CNS2026 #PhysicianAdvocacy #EmployedPhysicians
We are only four days🗓️ away from our Fall meeting in Washington DC!
Looking forward to spirited debate and collaboration this Friday. Don't forget to register at: csnsonline.org/meetings/
📣 CSNS Resolution Discussion Reminder
We’re excited to have 21 resolutions on the docket for our upcoming CSNS Fall Meeting!
Committee members: This is your week to connect with your committees, review assigned resolutions, and discuss your positions ahead of the meeting—if you haven’t already.
Looking forward to lively discussions, thoughtful debate, and productive collaboration in less than two weeks!
CSNS retweeted
Watch this powerful plea from AANS/CNS Washington Committee member JP Kolcun, MD, on the erosion of physician autonomy, mounting workloads, and why some of our brightest minds may choose careers outside medicine.
And it begs the question: How much have federal policies contributed to these challenges?
Answer: More than Washington may care to admit. 🙈
It's time for Washington to listen more closely to the physicians delivering care, rather than relying so heavily on think tanks and policy institutions pontificating from afar about how our health care system should work. 🧠
@cvsection @spinesection @councilsns @regrelief @SpecialtyDocs @AANSNeuro @CNS_Update @NSTumorSection @JPGK_MD @DrDiGiorgio @DrBrian4Health @CMSGov @DrJohnCowan @HHSResponse
Doctors Earning Less, Working More - Is Medicine Losing Talent?
Full conversation at youtube.com/shorts/ztkDqFMlm…
#neurosurgery #medicine #meded
@AANSNeuro @AANSNeurosurg @councilsns @neurosurgery @AmerMedicalAssn @UMneurosurgery @DrDiGiorgio @physicianhosp @DutchRojas @SurgeryCenterOK @AtlasMD @anish_koka @JPGK_MD
We are now just over two weeks 🗓️ away from our meeting in Washington DC! If you haven't yet, don't forget to register at: csnsonline.org/meetings/
See you soon!
CSNS retweeted
You can change the name, but the same shady insurance company tactics persist.
A New York neurosurgery practice has filed a complaint in federal court challenging Elevance Health's policy of penalizing hospitals for working with out-of-network physicians.... even those complying with the No Surprises Act.
For those unfamiliar, @ElevanceHealth was formerly Anthem, which faced years of lawsuits, regulatory scrutiny, and controversy before rebranding in 2022.
It ranks #18 on the Fortune 500 list.
If insurers offer rates that don't cover the cost of delivering care, and hospitals are penalized for working with out-of-network physicians, how does that protect patient access or choice? Who has the leverage here? Who is getting squeezed? Who is contributing to consolidation? 👏Follow 👏the 👏money.
Read the full story from Elizabeth Casolo at: beckerspayer.com/legal/eleva…
@CNS_Update @AANSNeuro @councilsns @spinesection @MSSNY_YPS @MedSocietyNYS @IndeMedAction @GNYHA
(4/4) Now we take the final step: from state advocacy to global prevention 🌎
Spina bifida is not just a neurosurgical problem. It is a global health issue—and prevention requires collaboration far beyond the operating room.
Folate and micronutrient fortification are powerful tools for preventing neural tube defects. In 2023, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution urging countries to accelerate efforts to prevent micronutrient deficiencies through safe and effective food fortification—including fortification of staple foods such as wheat and maize flour.
who.int/news/item/29-05-2023…
And one prominent advocate for this global effort has been our own Dr. Gail Rosseau, an internationally recognized leader in global neurosurgery.
You’ll have a chance to hear directly from Dr. Rosseau at the CNS Annual Meeting, where she is an honored guest: cns.org/annualmeeting
Operating room ➡️ Advocacy ➡️ Legislation ➡️ Global Prevention.
The journey continues.
@SpinaBifidaAssn @AANSNeuro @CNS_Update @PedsSection @neurosurgery @WHO
(3/4) Advocacy can become action. And action can become law⚖️
Thanks to advocates across the country, efforts to fortify corn masa with folic acid to help prevent neural tube defects are expanding—one state legislature at a time.
On September 28th, New Jersey signed the Fortifying Corn Masa Act [pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/…] into law, requiring folic acid fortification of corn masa flour.
In Delaware, only two days later, a similar bill was passed [legis.delaware.gov/BillDetai…] requiring the same. Two states, one week.
Bipartisan support. California. Alabama. New Jersey. Delaware. And more states are considering action.
What starts with clinicians raising a concern can grow into something much bigger.
The work continues.
@SpinaBifidaAssn @AANSNeuro @CNS_Update @PedsSection @neurosurgery @Delaware_DHSS @NJDeptofHealth @FFINetwork
(2/4) How does a clinical problem become a movement for change?
It starts with advocacy.
Building on early successes in California and Alabama, advocates from the CSNS demonstrated the feasibility—and potential impact—of folic acid fortification of corn masa flour.
The issue gained momentum. The evidence was published.
publications.aap.org/pediatr…
And this spring, the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (CSNS) formally passed Resolution XVII in support of the initiative.
This is advocacy:
👉 Identify the problem
👉 Bring clinicians together
👉 Build the evidence
👉 Create a path forward
And then… take it to the states.
@SpinaBifidaAssn @AANSNeuro @CNS_Update @PedsSection @neurosurgery @AmerAcadPeds
(1/4) October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month🎗️
For pediatric neurosurgeons, caring for children with spina bifida (myelomeningocele) is daily practice. But the challenges of spina bifida extend far beyond the operating room—hydrocephalus, weakness, sensory deficits, and bladder and bowel dysfunction can affect patients throughout their lives.
Importantly, spina bifida sometimes can be prevented.
Adequate folic acid before conception and during early pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. The challenge? The neural tube develops very early—often before a woman knows she is pregnant.
In 1998, the U.S. mandated folic acid fortification of enriched cereal grains. The result was a dramatic reduction in neural tube defects. Yet an important gap remained: corn masa flour, a staple in many Hispanic communities, was not included in the original mandate.
This is where neurosurgery advocates stepped in.
So what happens when neurosurgeons take the next step and turn clinical experience into advocacy?
This week we highlight how the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (CSNS) is turning advocacy into action—from research, to resolution, to state legislation, and ultimately to global prevention.
The journey starts here.
spinabifidaassociation.org/
@SpinaBifidaAssn @AANSNeuro @CNS_Update @PedsSection @neurosurgery
CSNS retweeted
This week, Daniel Sciubba, MD, MBA represented the Spine Section at the Congressional Spine Health Fair on Capitol Hill, sharing the impact of spine care and the importance of ensuring patients have timely access to high-quality treatment.
From improving outcomes through the American Spine Registry to advancing policies that reduce unnecessary barriers to care, spine surgeons continue to be strong advocates for patients both inside and outside the operating room.
Thank you, Dr. Sciubba for your leadership and representation of our specialty! #SpineHealth #SpineSurgery @AANSNeuro @CNS_Update @SpineHealthFdn @AAOS1 @NorthwellHealth
Neurosurgeons: We need your perspective.
If you care for adults with spina bifida or pediatric-onset hydrocephalus, please take the Transition to Adult Neurosurgical Care Survey.
The survey takes <15 minutes and will help inform future best practices and transition-of-care initiatives.
📧 Check your inbox for the email sent yesterday with the subject:
“Your Feedback Wanted: Practice Patterns in Transition to Adult Neurosurgical Care for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus”
Your experience can help close the gap between pediatric and adult care.
@PedsSection @AANSNeuro @CNS_Update
CSNS retweeted
It was great to see some of our exceptional AANS/CNS Washington Committee leaders with @physicianhosp over the weekend at its national conference focused on putting physicians back in the driver’s seat and strengthening the patient-physician relationship.
Congress got it wrong with Section 6001. It’s time to repeal it and let all hospitals compete on a level playing field.
Patients vote with their feet. Let them decide.
@councilsns @spinesection @JohnRatliffMD @TUMI4L4N @DrDiGiorgio @GarniBDarian @ebraxtonmd @Twilli7
One of the best parts of PHA: every medical specialty in the room, united behind physician-led healthcare.
The neurosurgeons never disappoint — passionate, engaged and all-in on the patient-physician relationship.
Thanks to @AANSNeuro, @CNS_Update and @neurosurgery for championing the most important partnership in healthcare: the patient-physician relationship.
CSNS retweeted
“I’m just a pediatric brain surgeon, so what do I know, right?”
One of our own, Catherine Mazzola, MD, JD, was featured on @LastWeekTonight as John Oliver took on @UnitedHealthGrp’s cradle-to-grave health care system.
Dr. Mazzola’s story puts the problem in stark terms: after UHG-owned @Change_HC was hacked and payments to her pediatric neurosurgery practice stopped, UHG-owned @Optum provided her with a loan to keep the practice afloat, then sought repayment while the practice was still struggling to get paid. That is vertical integration at its most perverse.
And hers was just one piece of a much bigger story.
It’s time to close the loopholes that have allowed this degree of consolidation and vertical integration in health care, and take a hard look at the conflicts created when the same corporate enterprise can sit on so many sides of a patient’s care.
🎥 Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=h1pXm0Gj…
@councilsns @PedsSection @AANSNeuro @CNS_Update @hbomax
