Contact: Katie Glenn, kglenn@acc.org, 202-375-6472

WASHINGTON (Mar 26, 2015) -

American College of Cardiology President Kim Allan Williams Sr., M.D., FACC, issued the following statement on today's House of Representatives' passage of H.R. 2, the "Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act:"

"In voting to repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and replace it with a stable Medicare payment structure, the House has taken an important step towards solving a problem that has caused uncertainty for more than a decade for Medicare patients and for the clinicians who care for them," said American College of Cardiology President Kim Allan Williams Sr., M.D., FACC.

"This legislation will allow physicians to focus more fully on patient care rather than face the threat of dramatic cuts that could make caring for Medicare patients unsustainable. Instead of kicking the can down the road one more time, Speaker Boehner and Leader Pelosi demonstrated strong bipartisan leadership to address this problem at last. We urge the Senate to follow suit and quickly take up and pass the provisions of the House measure, H.R. 2, before the expiration of the current SGR patch on March 31st.

"The American College of Cardiology is also encouraged by the extension of funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides access to care for many children, including many born with serious cardiovascular conditions."

The American College of Cardiology is a 49,000-member medical society that is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College operates national registries to measure and improve care, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more information, visit acc.org.

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