“Access to Medicare Imaging Act” Introduced
Legislation was introduced last week in the U.S. House of Representatives that would place a two-year moratorium on cuts to Medicare imaging payments, which were instituted on January 1 as prescribed by the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA). The “Access to Medicare Imaging Act,” H.R. 1293, was introduced by Reps. Carolyn McCarthy, D-NY, Gene Green, D-Texas, and Joseph Pitts, R-PA. Upon introduction the legislation had 38 cosponsors. The ACC is encouraging members to contact their representatives and to tell them to cosponsor H.R. 1293. Introduction of similar legislation in the Senate is expected sometime in March. To view the legislation and a current list of cosponsors, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.1293:

MedPAC Releases Report to Congress on SGR
Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), released its annual report to Congress and a mandated report on the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula - the formula that is used to calculate physician payments.

Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag released new cost estimates of $330 billion over 10 years to repeal the SGR and replace with updates based on the medical economic index while holding Medicare beneficiaries harmless from increased premiums as a result.

MedPAC could not reach consensus on recommendations to Congress on how to reform the SGR because Commissioners are divided over whether a new system should retain a spending target as a means for controlling the volume and intensity of physician services.

Because of the cost and complexity of any major overhaul of the payment system, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has stated that major reform may have to wait another year. Meanwhile, physicians face a 10 percent cut on Jan. 1, 2008 as a result of the formula.

Tobacco Regulation Measure Introduced
Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced S. 625 last week which gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over the selling and advertising of tobacco products.
S. 625 would grant the FDA authority over most tobacco advertising as well as some ability to regulate, or at least disclose, the ingredients of cigarettes. Tobacco-industry claims such as “light” and “low-tar” would be subject to scrutiny and advertising that targets children would be eliminated. FDA’s expenses associated with this oversight would be paid for with a “user fee” taken from tobacco companies.

West Virginia CON Law Amendment Clears Senate
Last week West Virginia Senate passed SB 278, the bill encompassing the Health Care Authority (HCA) Certificate of Need (CON)/diagnostic centers rule. The measure passed without amendments supported by the physician community. The bill now goes to the House Judiciary Committee where any agreement on amendments will be inserted into the bill.

WVSMA and WV-ACC suggested withdrawing the entire CON CT/diagnostic centers rule, but Governor Manchin, whose office became involved in negotiations over the bill, was not willing to go that far. However, the parties were encouraged to agree upon modifications to the rule that both sides could live with. Negotiations are not over at this point but there has been tentative agreement on the direction an amendment would take.

If you have any questions about this legislation, please contact Jim Boxall (jboxall@acc.org).

ACC Submits Comments to CMS on Carotid Stenting
The ACC submitted comments to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) on its proposed changes to the National Coverage Decision (NCD) Memo on Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA) of the Carotid Artery Concurrent with Stenting. CMS solicited comments on limiting or expanding coverage of stenting for patients meeting certain clinical criteria. ACC's Advocacy - Regulatory Affairs Department assembled comments on the proposals from members, which was then reviewed and approved by ACC's PVD and Cath Clinical Committees before submission to CMS. A copy of the comment letter may be found by clicking here. Questions may be directed to Sergio A. Santiviago at ssantivi@acc.org. CMS' proposed NCD Memo may be accessed at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdraftdecisionmemo.asp?id=194.

Dr. Greg Thomas to Testify at CMS APC Panel
Greg Thomas, M.D., F.A.C.C. will testify on behalf of ACC at the March 7 meeting of CMS’s APC panel. The presentation will focus on the APC placement for cardiac CTA. Denise Garris and Rebecca Kelly are working with Dr. Thomas to finalize testimony with input from concerned specialties.

Cardiac MRI Coding Survey
The American College of Cardiology will be conducting a physician survey for eight new Cardiac MRI codes. The survey will be open March 7-16, 2007. If you are interested in participating, please contact Denise Garris at dgarris@acc.org.

List Cardiology First with NPI
The National Provider Identifier (NPI) compliance date of May 23, 2007 is quickly approaching so Apply NOW! The processing time for new NPIs is currently taking up to 30 days through the NPI Enumerator and it is expected to increase as May draws closer. In addition, it can take up to 120 days to implement the NPI in current business practices once an NPI has been obtained. When completing your application, be sure to list CARDIOLOGY as your primary specialty. Since your NPI records will be used to assemble practice expense data and could be used to calculate physician reimbursement in the coming years, it is important to list Cardiology ahead of Internal Medicine to properly classify providers performing cardiovascular procedures. To start the NPI application process, please contact the NPI Enumerator by visiting: http://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/ or calling: 1-800-465-3203. For more information about the NPI, go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand/

AMA and ACC to Conduct Physician Practice Information Survey
The American Medical Association (AMA), with the support of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and more than 60 other medical specialty societies, will conduct a multi-specialty survey of America’s physician practices in 2007. The purpose of the survey is to collect up-to-date information on physician practice characteristics in order to develop and refine AMA and ACC policy. Data related to professional practice expenses will also be collected. The AMA will survey thousands of physicians over the year from virtually all physician specialties to ensure accurate and fair representation for all physicians and their patients.

During the year 2007, you may be contacted by the Gallup Organization to participate in this study. We encourage your participation in this survey, as the data obtained will be a critical source of information for the AMA and ACC. Should you be called upon to contribute, your participation ensures that the information collected will represent you and your patients’ concerns to national policy-makers. Please watch for this survey in 2007 and do your part in completing it in a thorough and accurate manner.

Register for ACC.07/i2 Summit
There is still time to register for ACC.07 and i2Summit in New Orleans, March 24-27. Register online at www.acc.org . Don’t miss a special Advocacy Health Policy Brown Bag session on Monday, March 26 from 12:30-2:00 p.m. in Room 335 of the Convention Center. The session will focus on Medicare and Pay for Performance: What You Need to Know in 2007 and Beyond. More information is coming soon.