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Cardiology |
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| 10 Oct 2009 | Viewed: 38 | |
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Medicare
regulatory changes expected to be finalized in November but
overshadowed by the partisan bluster of the ongoing health care debate
pose an imminent threat to 80 million patients in America suffering
from heart disease, especially for the nearly one in four Americans
over the age of 65 living in rural areas.
Many cardiologists who operate in rural areas believe the proposal will
force them to close their outreach offices completely since many of
these operations run at a fiscal loss but offer an important service to
remote communities.
"We currently provide cardiac services to nine remote clinics two to
four times each month," said Dr. Joe Stevenson, president of Sierra
Nevada Cardiology Associates in Reno, Nev. "If these Medicare cuts go
through, we will not be able to provide diagnostic echocardiography
services on-site at those locations. That will mean our rural patients
will have to drive up to 400 miles round trip to obtain these critical
imaging tests. Some of them just won't be able or willing to do that.
And since 50 percent of patients experience their first cardiac disease
symptoms as a heart attack, the lack of access to diagnostic tests will put their lives at tremendous risk."
At issue is the amount Medicare, a federal program that helps people 65
or older pay health care costs, reimburses cardiologists for lifesaving
diagnostic testing. Beginning in January 2010, reimbursement rates
could be slashed in some cases by an additional 40 percent for imaging
and other vital diagnostic tools cardiologists use daily to save lives.
This means many cardiologists, especially those in rural areas, will
have to stop using these tools and instead send their patients to get
these tests at hospitals. Many rural patients will face long distance
travel to hospitals, out-of-pocket costs that are as much as five times
higher than in-office co-pays and wait times for tests and test results
that will take days, not hours as currently is the case when obtained
in the cardiologist's office.
Guarding Hearts Alliance is fighting Washington over the proposal,
which is based on questionable data gathered in 2006 via a
statistically invalid survey that used data from only 55
cardiologists--the equivalent of only one quarter of 1 percent of the
nation's cardiologists.
Member cardiologists of Guarding Hearts Alliance will converge in
Washington, D.C., October 13-14 to plead with Congress to do the right
thing for patients and not restrict access to cardiac care by
interceding on implementing the Medicare regulations.
About the Guarding Hearts Alliance
The Guarding Hearts Alliance is a partnership representing more than
23,000 cardiologists across the country, all of whom are strongly in
favor of Medicare regulations and health care reform initiatives that
put patients first in preserving access to quality cardiac care.
Administered through the Cardiology Advocacy Alliance, this group is
vitally concerned about potential changes that could inadvertently
endanger patient lives. Such issues as imaging equipment utilization
and reimbursement fee schedules might sound like they would generate
simple shifts in business practices, but they represent a potential
threat - access to lifesaving technology that serves the range of rural
Medicare recipients to privately insured urban residences alike.
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| News Source: medical news today |
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