Dear Heart Rhythm Society Member:

Unfortunately before recessing for the 4th of July, Congress failed to pass legislation which would have halted the 10.6% Medicare Physician payment cut. Therefore, the cut will be going forward as scheduled and will affect services rendered on or after July 1, 2008. The 1.0 floor on the geographic practice cost indexes (GPCI) also expires, meaning an additional 1%-3% cut for physicians in areas impacted by the GPCI.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt issued a statement today, indicating that if after recess Congress is able to pass legislation that President Bush will sign, the Administration will “promptly […] re-process claims and take other steps necessary to ensure that providers and beneficiaries are not negatively affected.” In the meantime, physicians should plan to continue submitting claims as usual.

Action Needed
While Congress is out on recess we ask that you continue putting pressure on your legislators to rectify this unacceptable situation. Contact your legislators’ DC offices using the Alliance of Specialty Medicine's toll-free Grassroots Hotline at 1-866-899-4088. When asked for your 4-digit specialty code, enter 6969. You may also e-mail your legislators or contact their district office to schedule a visit. Please contact Nevena Minor, Manager, Legislative Affairs with any questions at (202) 464-3431 or nminor@HRSonline.org.

Background
As previously reported, on Tuesday the House of Representatives passed by a vote of 355 to 59, HR 6331 "The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008". The bill, largely modeled after S. 3101, the Medicare legislation introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), would have continued the .5% update to Medicare physician payments for 2008 and provided a 1.1% update through 2009. It is unclear why so many House Republicans (115) voted for the bill, despite President Bush's veto-threat because of the bill's modifications to Medicare Advantage Plans. Some speculate that the Republicans were expecting to vote later this week on a compromise package being crafted by Sen. Baucus and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA), which would have ultimately superseded any House proposal and not likely faced a President veto. Therefore, they may have considered the vote for HR 6331 symbolic to demonstrate their support for physicians and stopping the payment cuts.

Because of the House’s overwhelming vote, Sen. Baucus and the Senate Democratic leadership nixed plans to bring up the bi-partisan compromise package, and instead called for a vote to proceed on HR 6331, hoping that the large House Republican support would translate into broad Senate Republican support as well. These hopes however did not materialize when the motion to proceed on the bill failed by 1 vote. Senate leadership plans to bring the same bill up for another vote after recess. The Society has worked with both sides of the aisle to resolve this urgent issue and will continue urging Congress to reverse this cut and keep you updated about new developments.