President’s
Day Recess Presents Critical Opportunity to Contact Congress While we were successful in preventing the 10 percent
cut to Medicare physician payment from taking place on Jan.
1, congressional intervention only delayed the cuts for six
months. This week’s President's Day Congressional Recess
is a critical opportunity to reach out to members of the Senate
and impress on them the importance of meeting their self-imposed
deadline of July 1 for preventing cuts to Medicare that will
endanger the access to care of millions of beneficiaries.
The ACC urges all members to contact their Senators and urge
them to:
stop the payment cuts for 18 months;
provide a positive update through 2009 that covers the
increase in the cost of care;
pave the way for a permanent replacement of the physician
update formula; and
oppose cuts to medical imaging services and support policies
that foster imaging appropriateness and quality.
Go to www.acc.org/can
to take action or call the ACC’s toll free grassroots
hotline at 800-210-7193.
ACC
Supporting “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control
Act” The ACC is working with Chapters to sign on as supporters
of H.R. 1108/S. 625, the "Family Smoking Prevention and
Tobacco Control Act." This legislation, which the ACC
has long supported through its work with the Partners for
Effective Tobacco Policy (PARTNERS), would give the FDA the
authority to regulate the manufacture, distribution, sale,
labeling, advertising and promotion of tobacco products to
protect the public health. The legislation has moved further
in this Congress than in the past and the goal is to achieve
enactment this year. The bill currently has 55 Senate cosponsors
and was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions (HELP) Committee last summer. It h as 218 cosponsors
in the House and is expected to be marked up by the House
Energy and Commerce Committee this spring. It is sponsored
by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and John Cornyn (R-TX),
and Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Davis (R-VA).
Chapters interested in joining a sign-on letter can contact
Justin Beland at (202) 375-6222 by Friday, Feb. 22. ACC members
can also contact their members of Congress asking them to
support this legislation if they are not already doing so.
REGULATORY
CMS
Coverage Update CMS is actively considering four Medicare coverage
issues related to cardiovascular care. ACC is coordinating
efforts with other partners in the cardiovascular community
to respond to these issues.
Cardiac CTA: The public comment period on the proposed
National Coverage Decision (NCD) on cardiac CTA closed on
Jan. 12. ACC representatives, along with representatives
from the ACR, SCAI, SCCT and NASCI met with CMS staff on
Jan. 30 in follow up to a multi-society comment letter opposing
CMS’s proposal to severely limit coverage for CCTA.
CMS’s final decision is due to be published March
13. Efforts continue to urge CMS to give full consideration
to the large body of available evidence supporting use of
CCTA for diagnosis of coronary artery disease.
Carotid Artery Stenting: At the request of a multi-society
group, including ACC and SCAI, CMS has initiated a reconsideration
of its NCD for carotid artery stenting. The reconsideration
is open for public comment until March 2, with a proposed
decision due no later than Aug. 1. More information is available
here.
Artificial Hearts: CMS has proposed establishing coverage
with evidence development (CED) for artificial hearts for
patients enrolled in certain FDA approved clinical studies.
The proposal is open for public comment until March 3. View
the proposed decision memo and submit comments here.
Microvolt T-Wave Alternans: CMS proposes to continue
current coverage policy for MTWA, which limits coverage
to the spectral analysis method. A manufacturer had requested
expansion of coverage to the modified moving average method.
The proposal is open for public comment until March 15.
View the proposed decision memo and submit comments here.
Mandatory
Reporting of the National Provider Identifier (NPI) on all
Part B Claims Effective March 1, 2008, your Medicare fee-for-service
claims must include an NPI in the primary provider fields
on the claim (i.e., the billing, pay-to provider and rendering
provider fields). You may continue to submit NPI/legacy pairs
in these fields or submit only your NPI. The secondary provider
fields (i.e., referring, ordering and supervising) may continue
to include only your legacy number, if you choose. Failure
to submit an NPI in the primary provider fields will result
in your claim being rejected, beginning March 1, 2008.
In addition, if you already bill using the NPI/legacy pair
in the primary provider fields and your claims are processing
correctly, now is a good time to submit to your contractor
a small number of claims containing only the NPI in the primary
provider fields. This test will serve to assure your claims
will successfully process when only the NPI is mandated on
all claims.
QUALITY
New
ACC Web Site Focuses on Health IT The ACC recently launched its new Web site focused
on health care technology. The site aims to:
• Support ACC’s health information technology
(HIT) efforts to promote quality in cardiovascular health.
• Provide education and useful resources to help promote
HIT adoption
• Serve as a trusted source for information on healthcare
technology for ACC members.
• Provide tools and programs to assist members in implementing
HIT, including e-Prescribing and EHR Toolkit sections.
The Healthcare Technology site also provides helpful information
on HIT organizations, terminology and acronyms. Bookmark the
site (www.acc.org/healthit).
You can also learn more at ACC.08 in Chicago by visiting the
ACC Central booth on the Expo floor.
