Joining more than 145 state and national medical associations, on April 7, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) wrote U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex M. Azar requesting “immediate financial assistance for physicians across the country who are taking heroic action to treat patients with the novel coronavirus, providing ongoing care for patients with chronic conditions and urgent needs, and incurring significant financial losses due to postponing non-essential procedures and visits.”

On Dec. 20, President Donald J. Trump signed the fiscal year 2020 domestic spending bill (Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, H.R. 1865), which was previously approved by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 71-23 and the House of Representatives by a vote of 297-120. The new law (P.L. 116-94) includes several provisions of interest to neurosurgery: