The
ACC on May 15 submitted comments in response to the Senate
Finance Committee’s paper, “Transforming
the Health Care Delivery System: Proposals to Improve Patient
Care and Reduce Health Care Costs.” The document
contains policy options related to short- and long-term payment
reform, infrastructure investments, the Physician Quality
Reporting Initiative, imaging, workforce, comparative effectiveness
and more. In the comments, the ACC commends the committee
for “setting out many positive delivery system reform
policy options that would take needed steps toward improving
the coordination and quality of care.” It adds, “The
ACC believes reform of our current health care delivery system
is essential and stands ready to help you as you undertake
system transformation.” The comments also address the
necessity of medical liability reform. Read
the comments in ful
Senate
Panel Discusses Tobacco Bill
The
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on
Tuesday began its markup of the “Family Smoking Prevention
and Tobacco Control Act,” (S.
982). The bill would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to grant the FDA the authority to restrict
tobacco marketing and sales to youth; require detailed disclosure
of ingredients; allow FDA to require changes to tobacco products;
and require larger, more specific health warnings. The FDA
activity would be funded by a user fee on cigarette manufacturers,
allocated by market share. The House on April 2 approved a
similar version of the bill in a 298-112 vote.
The ACC
highly encourages members to contact their senators in support
of this important bill. Please call the Capitol Switchboard
at (202) 224-3121 to ask your senator to support S. 982, the
“Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.”
When calling, note that the ACC and coalition partners oppose
weakening amendments, as well as the Hagan/Burr bill (S. 579),
which does not provide adequate enforcement for its provisions.
REGULATORY
Echo
Code Changes: How Do They Affect Your Practice?
The
ACC and the American Society of Echocardiography are conducting
a brief survey on the impact of the new echocardiography CPT
93306 code. Your participation in the survey will help provide
a better understanding of the issues surrounding the new code,
as well as assist in the creation of a model letter that can
be used in discussions with private payers about the code.
Survey
participants should be familiar with a practice’s current
contracts with insurance companies, and have an understanding
of the scope of Medicare changes this year. The survey will
ask the impact of 93306 (global) and 93306-26 (professional
component). To
complete the survey, click here. The survey will close
on Friday, June 5. If you have questions or problems, please
contact Henry McCants at hmccants@acc.org.
Medicare
Trust Fund Short $37T The
trust fund that Medicare uses to pay for beneficiaries’
hospital care, Medicare Part A, will be insolvent by 2017,
two years earlier than predicted last year, according to a
report
by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. According to
the report, the program is short $37.8 trillion, which includes
the 21 percent payment cut scheduled for providers this year.
To remedy the shortfall, Medicare would need to deposit $13.4
trillion into an interest-earning account to pay for benefits
under the program for the next 75 years. The report found
that Medicare Parts B and D, which pay for ambulatory care
and pharmaceuticals, are not at risk for a shortfall, although
costs are expected to rise as overall health spending increases.
More
coverage is available from the New York Times.
FDA
News Updates
The Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a combination
pill that contains amlodipine and olmesartan medoxomil as
a first-line treatment for patients with hypertension who
are likely to need multiple medications to reach target blood
pressure levels. The drug, called Azor, was originally approved
in September 2007 but not for use as an initial treatment.
More coverage
is available from MedPage Today.
QUALITY
Register
Now! Symposium on Payment Reform, CV Disease
In partnership
with Avalere Health, the ACC presents “Raising the Bar:
Payment Reform and Cardiovascular Disease” on June 12,
2009, in Washington, D.C. The event will feature ACC CEO Jack
Lewin, M.D., William Oetgen, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.C, from Georgetown
University, Len Nichols, Ph.D., from the New America Foundation,
Francois de Brantes, M.S., M.B.A., from Bridges to Excellence,
among other health care leaders. The symposium will examine
payment reform through the lens of cardiovascular disease
and focus on payment models that promise to shift toward value-based
purchasing. View
registration and agenda information.
Pfizer
to Offer 70 Free Drugs to Unemployed
Pfizer
now offers 70 of its prescription drugs, including Lipitor,
for free for up to a year to individuals who have been laid
off and lost health insurance coverage. To qualify, individuals
must have lost their job after Jan. 1 and been taking a drug
for at least three months. According to the Associated
Press, the program will likely “help prevent
patients from switching to cheaper brands or generics through
the worst of the recession,” although a company spokesperson
said the intent of the program is only to help patient in
need.
Blueprint
for Reform Featured in CV Business
The ACC
at its Annual Meeting took its commitment to quality care
to the next level by approving a “blueprint” for
reform, including guiding principles and a series of action
plans to implement those principles, which was featured in
the May/June issue of Cardiovascular Business magazine. This
document
highlights the six principles essential to a reformed system:
universal coverage, expansion of coverage through public/private
programs, a focus on patient value, professionalism and partnership
with empowered patients, coordination across sources and sites
of care, and payment reforms that reward quality and ensure
value. ACC CEO Jack Lewin, M.D., writes in the column, “Over
the rest of the year, the greatest challenge for both the
college and the medical community will be to remain nimble
in the face of change. ... Ultimately, we must remain committed
to doing what is right for patients as we participate in the
great effort to reform healthcare.” Read Cardiovascular
Business’ “The
ACC Corner.”
