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Ana Fullmer, American College of Cardiology,
202.375.6229 afullmer@acc.org
July
1, 2009
ACC Comment on Medicare Proposed Physician Cuts
Statement attributable to Alfred Bove, M.D., President of
the American College of Cardiology:
“The American College of Cardiology is shocked that
CMS has proposed to cut payments to cardiology services by
11 percent in a single year. These proposed cuts are based
on the incorporation of a few esoteric pieces of data into
a complex formula. The focus on this formula completely ignores
the very important issues of access that are certain to be
created by these huge slashes in payment. Services that have
improved countless lives by diagnosing and treating cardiovascular
disease are scheduled to have payment cuts in the range of
25 to 42 percent.
“The ACC is very concerned that CMS chose to disregard
the standards it previously put in plae to ensure the quality
of practice expense data. We believe this is a significant
departure from previous policy and may be a violation of statute.
It is ironic that the agency that purports to support an evidence-based
approach to medicine is making major decisions based on such
shoddy and incomplete data.
“Given the extensive discussion of previous surveys
in previous rules, the ACC is concerned about the very brief
discussion of the new survey in this proposal. In previous
rules, CMS has stated its strong concerns about wild swings
in payments for services and has chosen not to implement significant
changes in payments in a single year. The ACC questions why
they would propose to do so this time.”
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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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