On Tuesday, March 2, the Senate voted to extend 2009 Medicare physician payment rates through the end of March. Therefore, the 21.2% reduction that took effect on March 1 has been postponed until April 1. President Barack Obama signed it into law later that evening.

SCAI is reminding members THAT they AND ALL PHYSICIANS face a 22% Medicare reimbursement cut a month from now. YOU need to ACT NOW - Urge your senator to support a permanent SGR fix now before cuts on March 1.

In comments submitted to CMS by SCAI, AMA, and other national medical organizations on the proposed rule, Medicare Program; Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs.

In 2007, a Joint Workgroup of the RUC (RBRVS Update Committee) and the CPT Editorial Panels convened to examine codes that were commonly performed together. The Workgroup recommended, and both the RUC and the CPT Editorial Panels agreed, that code pairs reported together more than 95% of the time should be bundled into a single code as appropriate.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule. Despite advocacy efforts by SCAI and the House of Cardiology, the final rule reflects significant reductions in payments for cardiology services.