On January 1st, 2010, a new reality set in for practices and patients - a reality not based on quality care but on false data and inaccurate assumptions. Fees to physicians have been cut on key services - cuts that range from 10 - 40% on key tests such as echos and stress tests and life saving procedures such as outpatient catherization. With such drastic reductions, physicians have had to make difficult decisions and practices are starting to integrate with hospital systems - forcing Medicare to pay more and patients to deal with additional bureaucracy. Patients, physicians and cardiac care team members are fighting for access to cardiovascular services and private practice.

NEWS & UPDATES

June 25th

Dear FCACC Members:

I wanted you to be aware that yesterday evening, the House passed a bill that includes a 2.2 percent Medicare fee schedule update for physician services through November 2010. The bill passed 417 to 1. Because the same legislation passed the Senate last week, the bill was sent to President Obama for his signature. The 2.2 percent update provided by the bill replaces the 21 percent Medicare cut currently in effect, and will be applied retroactively to claims for services provided on or after June 1. Thank you to those who called our elected officials and pushed them. An extension to November 30 is not at all what we need to sustain our practices, but it does give us much more stability than two week extensions.

Sincerely,
Alberto Montalvo, MD, FACC
President

A. Allen Seals, MD, FACC, Chair, FCACC Advocacy Committee, featured with Fred Bove, MD, FACC, Immediate Past President of the ACC, in the Jacsonville Times-Union on May 4th, 2010

See the article - http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-05-01/story/heart-specialists-upset-health-bill

SGR Cuts Delayed Until End of May - SIGN ONTO THE NATION-WIDE PETITION

President Obama signed H.R. 4851, the Continuing Extension Act of 2010, into law, following on the heels of votes in both the House and Senate in mid-April. The law reinstates Medicare physician payments to where they were on March 31 and again postpones the 21.3 percent Medicare Physician Payment cuts related to the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula until the end of May.

The petition, "Stop the Medicare Meltdown," began as a program from the Texas Medical Association but has grown into a nationwide petition drive - we are aiming to deliver 1 million signatures. The petition urges Congress to fix the flawed payment formula that threatens care for our nation’s Medicare recipients, including senior citizens and people with disabilities, and 850,000 military family members covered by TriCare.

ACC Chapters are supporting this effort around the country; please sign onto the petition telling Congress to permanently repeal the SGR. A link to an easy-to-complete online petition is at www.MeAndMyDoctor.com and http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/meltdown/.

April Message from Alberto Montalvo, MD, FACC President, Florida Chapter, ACC

At the last Board of Governors meeting we heard that all efforts to influence change in the 2010 CMS Rule has been futile in an atmosphere consumed with Health Care Reform legislation. The ACC is not giving up its efforts but has decreased the intensity of its approach. As we watch this dysfunctional Congress inability to deal with the SGR fix we know that our problem is invisible to them. The SGR is an item that organized medicine has dedicated years of intense lobbying to fix and change and yet Congress just postpones any action.

On top of a 2010 CMS Rule which will continue until 2013 decreasing our payments CMS will be publishing its 2011 Rule this summer which will likely include new bundled codes for cardiac catheterization and peripheral angiography. This only means more cuts in payments from Medicare. The Obama administration announced the nomination of Don Berwick, MD, to head CMS and no doubt he was chosen to continue an agenda of government savings by decreasing payment to physicians.

Rampant panic, with good reason, is the prevalent sentiment in cardiology. The ACC predicts up to 50% of Cardiology Practices will integrate with Hospitals by the end of 2010 either in full integration or partnership agreements.

As President of the Florida Chapter, although committed to fight for the survival of the independent private cardiology practice, I find very difficult to maintain an optimistic attitude. Yet more than ever I know the importance of this fight. We are fighting for the basic American values of small business – the entrepreneur spirit that makes this country great. We are fighting so that our children have the same opportunity to live the American dream.

My concern, which I expressed at the Board of Governors of the ACC, is that the majority of cardiologists and Americans fail to appreciate what they have, they take it for granted and don’t have the guts and commitment to fight for it.

This summer we will continue to take our message to Congress and we will point out to them how they are allowing the change of our health care system by the present Administration, and the consequences of these changes. We will announce actions to be taken during the future Congressional breaks. As many of you integrate with Hospitals be aware that it is an experiment that could indeed fail. I hope you will continue to fight with us so that you and your children have a better opportunity again in the future.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

August 20th, 2010
Practice Survival Symposium
Noon - 5:00pm
Boardwalk Conference Center, Lake Buena Vista (registration to open May 1)

August 20th - 22nd, 2010
Florida Chapter, ACC Annual Meeting
Boardwalk Conference Center, Lake Buena Vista
ADVOCACY SESSION WITH ACC PRESIDENT RALPH BRINDIS, MD, FACC
Bring your ideas directly to the ACC Leadership! REGISTER TODAY www.accfl.org

September 12-14, 2010
ACC Legislative Conference
Washington, DC