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Amy Murphy amurphy@acc.org,
(202) 375-6476
September
16, 2009
ACC CEO Dr. Jack Lewin’s Statement on the Baucus Draft
Washington, DC – Dr. Jack Lewin, CEO
of the American College of Cardiology, made the following
statement Wednesday regarding the Baucus draft:
"We appreciate Chairman Baucus's hard work on this very
important piece of legislation.
"I am excited to see the CMS innovation center idea that
will focus on better payment and outcomes in this draft. We
are also happy to see a mention of tort reform which is a
step in the right direction, and we hope to see tort reform
in the final package.
"While we appreciate the effort to stop the 22 percent
cut to physician reimbursements under Medicare scheduled to
take place next year, we believe you can't have complete health
reform until you permanently eliminate the flawed Sustainable
Growth Rate (SGR) payment formula. I shudder to think of how
that 1-year band-aid will lead us to spend the next year trying
to fix that formula to prevent a payment disaster instead
of working on the quality projects patients deserve. Failure
to permanently eliminate the SGR means patient access is threatened
while Congress plays chicken with Medicare benefits year after
year.
"Ironically, the highest quality care in this country
is not the most expensive care. The most effective way to
bend the cost curve is to put the incentives on the table
for doctors and hospitals to improve quality and care systematically
by using evidence-based tools.
"The American College of Cardiology is well positioned
to lead this effort. With over 43 percent of all Medicare
dollars spent fighting heart disease, the ACC has tools in
place to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse out of the system.
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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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