ACT NOW! TIME IS RUNNING OUT! Proposed Cuts Threaten Patient Care The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which includes policy proposals that would significantly reduce payments for cardiovascular-related services. CMS projects that the proposed changes would reduce total Medicare payments to cardiology by 11 percent. The projected payment cut would result from changes to the following areas: practice expense calculation; equipment utilization rates; malpractice rate calculation; and payment for consultations. In addition, CMS proposes a 21.5 percent reduction in the Medicare conversion factor due to the flawed sustainable growth rate. In short, there could be as high as a 30 percent cut in Medicare payments for cardiology. Taken together with the payment cuts cardiology has already experienced, CMS’ proposed rule represents a grave threat to cardiology practices and the patients they serve. Contact your lawmakers TODAY and ask them to prevent these payment policies that will result in devastating cuts. Go to www.acc.org/can to send a letter to your representative and senators. A sample letter and/or talking points are provided. You can use the ACC’s toll-free grassroots hotline (800-210-7193) to be directly connected to your lawmakers' offices. For questions, please contact advocacydiv@acc.org. Sample patient materials are on the Advocacy page of this website as well. House Committee Passes Reform Bill; Imaging Amendment Not Offered …Yet Late last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed its health care reform bill (H.R. 3200). The Weiner/Braley imaging amendment, which would eliminate the ability of physicians to provide MR, CT and PET imaging services in their offices beginning in 2013, was not included. However, the fight is not over. Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is expected to hold a special session after the August recess to discuss H.R. 3200 and the more than 60 proposed amendments not heard before the break. The ACC opposed this amendment in a joint letter with 23 other medical professional societies to Rep. Waxman, and is working hard to fight efforts to attach self referral provisions to health reform. ACC staff and leaders continue to meet regularly with members of Congress about the benefits of appropriate use criteria and clinical guidelines to ensure that the right tests are delivered at the right time to the right patients. The ACC also supports mandatory imaging laboratory accreditation to improve the quality of imaging.