President's Message
Christopher J. Cooper, MD, FACC |
Dear Colleague,
Ohio Chapter Meeting, October 13th
I would like to remind you about our annual meeting this weekend featuring the first "Richard P. Lewis Memorial Lecture" by Dr. Patrick O'Gara. Registration information and additional information are available here or at www.ohioacc.org. I look forward to seeing you there!
ACC Legislative Conference
I had the opportunity to join 14 Ohio-ACC colleagues at the 2012 ACC Legislative Conference held in Washington, DC, on September 10-11, 2012. (Here are photos from our visit.) More than 350 ACC members from across the country attended the conference, which culminated in meetings with our legislators' offices on Capitol Hill. The Conference provided us with compelling information about the legislative issues challenging cardiology patients and providers as well as the health care profession in general. Here are the briefing materials on the issues that we discussed with Congress.
I hope that you will agree with me that forging relationships with our legislators is absolutely critical. We will be heading to the Ohio Statehouse on March 19, 2013, for Cardiology Day at the Capital. Please mark your calendar to join me, and get to know your Ohio state legislators.
Sincerely,
Christopher J. Cooper MD, FACC
President, Ohio Chapter of the ACC
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Contact Congress: Ask Them to Oppose Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction Expansion
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The recently released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Fiscal Year 2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule includes an expansion of multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR) policy that would negatively impact payment for numerous cardiology codes. Specifically, the proposal imposes a 25-percent payment reduction on the technical component (TC) for the less expensive service.
In recent years, CMS has attempted to lower Medicare costs by identifying potentially duplicative services and deploying appropriate payment reductions that reflect these efficiencies. Such policies can achieve savings when correctly devised and applied. However, after reviewing the expanded MPPR policy, we believe this analysis and proposed implementation is based on the flawed assumption that redundancies exist within certain clinical labor activities and that a payment reduction is not the appropriate course of action. Congress needs to know that additional arbitrary cuts to imaging services has a negative impact on Medicare beneficiaries' access to high-quality health care and makes it increasingly difficult for physicians to maintain a comprehensive private practice.
ACTION REQUESTED
House Energy and Commerce Committee Members Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and John Barrow (D-GA) are circulating a letter to CMS Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner opposing the proposed expansion of MPPR. Please call your Representative and urge her/him to sign on to the Blackburn/Barrow letter today. If you would like to send your Representative a letter, please click here.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to advocating for the profession and for the patients who rely on you.
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