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Amy Murphy amurphy@acc.org,
(202) 375-6476
September
14, 2009
Cardiologists Descend on Capitol Hill to Talk Health Reform
and Medicare Cuts
More than 350 Meet with Members of Congress Tuesday
Washington, DC – The American College
of Cardiology (ACC) is currently hosting its annual Legislative
Conference where more than 350 cardiovascular professionals
from across the country are hearing from various health policy
experts and sharing stories from their home states.
On Tuesday, September 15, 2009, these cardiovascular professionals
will descend on Capitol Hill to meet with Members of Congress
about important health reform initiatives and ask Congress
to stop the proposed Medicare cuts to critical cardiology
services.
The ACC believes reform of our current health care system
is essential. Forty-three percent of Medicare dollars
are spent on heart disease, our country's number one killer.
The ACC offers itself and its 37,000 members as a resource
to Congress as they undertake important system transformation
and work to improve cardiac care.
“Congress must work to deliver health care reform this
year and we support that effort; however, separately, the
devastating Medicare cuts to cardiology services must be stopped,”
said Alfred A. Bove, M.D., president of the ACC.
The ACC is committed to taking a leadership role in health
care reform centered on increasing the quality of care and
ensuring greater patient value. As health care reform moves
through Congress, the ACC believes engaging the medical profession
is essential to developing an effective and coordinated health
care system.
The ACC stands ready to support and urges Congress to reach
agreement this year on real health care reform that:
- Ensures access to affordable health care for all Americans;
Includes delivery and payment system reforms that provide
incentives for improvement of quality and outcomes;
- Repeals the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula used
to calculate Medicare physician payment;
- Emphasizes professionalism and patient-centered care;
- Improves care coordination across sources and sites through
interoperable health information technology;
- Implements medical liability reforms that reduce legal
and defensive medicine costs; and
- Promotes comparative effectiveness research to better
inform guidelines, performance measures and appropriate
use criteria.
“Unfortunately, proposed payment cuts in the Center
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 2010 Medicare Physician
Fee Schedule threaten the College’s ability to effectively
participate in reform efforts,” said Dr. Bove.
CMS has proposed several technical changes in how payments
are calculated resulting in cuts ranging from 11 percent to
more than 40 percent for cardiology services. These estimated
cuts for cardiology would be in addition to the 21.5 percent
reduction to the Medicare conversion factor that will take
effect January 1 if Congress does not intervene.
“Deaths from heart disease have dropped by 30 percent
over the last eight years. Sustaining this progress for patients
will require adequate and predictable payment for these live-saving
cardiology services,” said Jack Lewin, M.D., CEO of
the ACC. “Cuts of this magnitude will cripple cardiology
practices and threaten access to services that prevent premature
death and disability for millions of Americans.”
These proposed cuts underscore the need for overarching health
reform that focuses on both reducing costs and improving quality.
The ACC firmly believes that carefully crafted partnerships
are critical to enacting real reforms and expediting the progress
needed.
Interview requests for Dr. Alfred Bove, President of
the ACC, or Dr. Jack Lewin, CEO of the ACC, can be made by
contacting either Amy Murphy or Larry Farnsworth.
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The American College of Cardiology is leading the way to optimal
cardiovascular care and disease prevention. The College is
a 36,000-member nonprofit medical society and bestows the
credential Fellow of the American College of Cardiology upon
physicians who meet its stringent qualifications. The College
is a leader in the formulation of health policy, standards
and guidelines, and is a staunch supporter of cardiovascular
research. The ACC provides professional education and operates
national registries for the measurement and improvement of
quality care. More information about the association is available
online at www.acc.org .
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) provides these news
reports of clinical studies published in the Journal of
the American College of Cardiology as a service to physicians,
the media, the public and other interested parties. However,
statements or opinions expressed in these reports reflect
the view of the author(s) and do not represent official policy
of the ACC unless stated so.
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