For recent news and updates, please see Amendments to Health Care Reform Law »
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Health Care Reform Timeline
The Society has summarized and condensed details of the health care reform implementation timeline to assist members. View timeline »
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2010
Health Care Reform Signed into Law (03/23/2010) — On Sunday, March 21, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on the U.S. Senate-passed health care reform bill (H.R. 3590). President Barack Obama signed “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” into law on Tuesday, March 23. While the Society is pleased that the new law addresses insurance reform expanding health insurance to millions of Americans, we are disappointed that the current law does not address our concerns with provisions that will affect patient access to specialty care. Learn more »
Health Care Reform – Society Asks Members of the House to Vote "No" on Sunday (03/19/2010) — After weeks of discussions and negotiations, the House of Representatives is finally scheduled to vote on health care reform. The final package includes the Senate-passed health care legislation and a “side-car” reconciliation bill (with fixes to the Senate-passed bill agreed to during the negotiations with the White House). The Society and other members of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine sent a letter to the House members opposing the final health care package and asking them to vote "no" on Sunday. Learn more »
Society attends White House Press Conference on Health Care Reform (03/3/2010)Today, President Obama announced during a press conference the next steps of health care reform. Ted D. Friehling, MD, member of the Heart Rhythm Society, attended the press conference on behalf of the Society. Learn more »
Society Comments on Health Care Reform Prior to Televised Summit (02/23/2010) — The Heart Rhythm Society, as a member of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, was a signatory on a February 19 letter to U.S. President Barack Obama that provided feedback on issues of importance to specialty physicians as the President prepares for the televised health care reform summit on February 25. Learn more »
Democrats Struggle to Find A New Way to Move A Health Care Bill (01/27/2010) — In light of the Republican victory in Massachusett's special election January 19 , the negotiations to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate-passed bills have been put on hold. With the Democrats losing their supermajority in the Senate, Congressional leaders must reassess both their goals and strategies to successfully pass health care reform. Learn more »
Massachusetts Election Impacts Health Care Reform (01/20/2010) — Democratic Congressional leaders are adjusting their strategy to reform health care due to Republican Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts’s special election on January 19. His election victory means Democrats now lack the 60 votes necessary to stop a potential Republican filibuster of the bill in the Senate. Democrats may choose to approve the Senate version of the health care bill before Senator-elect Brown takes office and pass amendments later to reflect a House-Senate compromise. Learn more »
Society Continues to Express Concerns on Health Care Reform Legislation (01/12/2010) — As the House and Senate work to remedy the differences between the House and Senate passed health care reform bills and continue the negotiations regarding the provisions to be included in the final version, the Heart Rhythm Society, as a member of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, was a signatory on a January 8, 2010 letter providing extensive feedback on issues impacting patient access to specialty care and requested several changes. Learn more »
Society Opposes IPAB (01/11/2010) — The Heart Rhythm Society, joining 73 other medical societies, sent a letter to Democratic leaders of Congress opposing the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) and requesting the deletion of this provision from the final health care reform legislation. Learn more »
2009
Health Care Reform Update: Senate Likely to Pass Legislation by Christmas Eve; Will Conference with House in Early January (12/22/2009) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) succeeded, after much negotiations and compromising, to garner the 60 votes of his Democratic colleagues for the first of three cloture votes needed to pass health care reform legislation before adjourning for the year. While some positive changes were made, many issues raised by physicians have gone unresolved. Learn more »
Health Care Reform Update (12/16/2009) — This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives included a 60-day fix to the Medicare physician payment cuts in FY 2010 defense appropriation legislation. Last week, Congress passed the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriation Act, with FY 2010 appropriations legislation for six federal agencies, including Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, which includes $31 billion for the National Institutes of Health. Meanwhile, senators continue to debate the Senate version of health care reform. Learn more »
Medicare Physician Payment Cuts — 60-Day Delay Approved by Congress (12/22/2009) Congress included in the FY 2010 defense appropriations legislation a 60-day patch to the Medicare physician payment cuts. The patch will delay implementation of the scheduled 21.2 percent payment cut by extending the 2009 conversion factor for 60 days. This will give lawmakers time to move forward with a longer-term solution to the physician payment formula. This week, the proposed one-year, 0.5 percent patch to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula was eliminated from the Senate health care reform legislation with a statement from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) that he intends to pass legislation to permanently repeal the SGR formula after the holidays. Learn more »
The Society Meets with CMS on Medicare Consultation Services (12/16/2009) — The Society’s leadership met with officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to discuss our concerns with the elimination of Medicare consultation codes scheduled to go into effect on January 1st, 2010. Learn more »
The House Approved a 60-Day delay to the Medicare Physician Payment Cuts (12/16/2009) —This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives included a 60-day fix to the Medicare physician payment cuts in FY 2010 defense appropriation legislation. Last week, Congress passed the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriation Act, with FY 2010 appropriations legislation for six federal agencies, including Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, which includes $31 billion for the National Institutes of Health. Meanwhile, senators continue to debate the Senate version of health care reform. Learn more »
Ask Your Senators to Support Amendment No. 3163 on Medicare Consultation Services (12/14/2009) — Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) filed Amendment No. 3163, which will implement a one-year delay of the CMS regulation eliminating consultation service codes. In addition, CMS will be required to consult with the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel of the American Medical Association (AMA) during the interim one-year period to modify existing codes or establish replacement codes to provide a coding structure adequately accounting for consultation services. Learn more »
Society Opposes Senate Health Care Reform Legislation (12/09/2009) — The Heart Rhythm Society, as a member of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, has voiced its opposition to the health care reform legislation currently being debated on the Senate Floor. The Senate has been actively debating amendments to the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," trying to reach agreements on the most controversial issues, such as the public option plan. Read the letter and learn more about the latest Senate activities »
Senate Begins Debate on Health Care Reform (12/01/2009) — After a week-long recess the Senate has reconvened to take up the Democrats' health care reform bill. Although Democratic leaders say they hope to send health care legislation to President Obama by the end of the year, it is unlikely they will accomplish that task. If they do not, then a House-Senate conference will occur in January. Review provisions of the Senate bill »
Senate Health Care Reform Legislation Moves Forward (11/25/2009) — On Saturday, November 21, 2009 the U.S. Senate voted 60-39 to allow debate and begin the amending process on H. R. 3590, the Senate version of health care reform legislation. As expected, the vote was along party lines. Several Senate Democrats who voted in favor of initiating debate said they will not support the legislation in its current form. The debate is scheduled to begin after the Thanksgiving recess. Learn more about the legislation and the Society’s concerns »
House Passes Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act (11/20/2009) The U.S. House of Representatives has debated and passed the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, which would repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, provide an positive update in 2010 based on the Medicare Economic Index and replace the SGR formula with two separate spending targets beginning in 2011. Learn more »
House Passes Health Care Reform Bill (11/11/2009) — On November 7, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the health care reform bill and is scheduled to debate and vote on the "Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009" — which will repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and establish a long-term fix — after November 16. Learn more »
Public Option Included in Senate Health Care Reform Legislation (10/30/2009) — Senate leaders have been working for more than two weeks to merge the Finance and the Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committees' health care reform legislation. One issue that has hindered them has been the inclusion of a public plan option in the final Senate bill. Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that Senate health care legislation will include a public plan with a provision that would allow individual states to opt out. Learn more »
Final House Health Care Legislation Introduced (10/28/2009) — Leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced two bills related to health care reform. The first would repeal the medicare physician payment formula and install a permanent "fix," while the second legislation would reform the overall health care system. Learn more »
Medicare Physician Payment “Fix” Defeated in The Senate (10/21/2009) —The Senate debated and voted for cloture on the “Medicare Physician Fairness Act of 2009,” S. 1776, which would repeal the sustainable growth formula and install a freeze on reimbursement for 2010 and subsequent years. A 47-53 vote defeated the cloture motion. Several Democrats voted against the bill. As a result, S. 1776 will not move forward in the legislative process. Learn more »
Medicare Physician Fairness Act Introduced (10/14/2009) —Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced the “Medicare Physician Fairness Act of 2009” (S. 1776), which would permanently repeal the Medicare physician payment update formula (also known as the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula). The proposed legislation would erase the SGR debt (avoiding the 21% cut in January 2010) and would install a freeze in reimbursement rates for 2010 and subsequent years. Learn more »
Senate Finance Committee Approves Health Care Reform Legislation (10/13/2009) — The Senate Finance Committee voted 14 to 9 to approve its version of health care reform legislation. As expected, Olympia Snowe (R-ME) was the only Republican to vote in favor of the bill. Senate Committee Chairs will now work to merge this legislation with the version approved by the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which included a public plan. Learn more »
Senate Finance Committee to Vote on Health Care Reform (10/7/2009) — The Senate Finance Committee finished marking up its version of health care reform legislation last week and scheduled a final vote for earlier this week, but it was delayed due to a pending cost analysis study by the Congressional Budget Office. The vote is anticipated later this week. Learn more »
The House Energy and Commerce Committee incorporated additional amendments to their health care reform legislation (09/30/2009) — The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted on the remaining proposed amendments to the health care reform legislation. House staff members are working to merge legislation from three Committees (Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, and Ways and Means) and present it to the House floor for a vote. Learn more »
Senate Finance Committee’s Legislation Includes a More Stringent Medicare Commission Proposal (09/30/2009) — In the Senate, the Finance Committee addressed other amendments, including one proposed by Jay Rockefeller (D- WV) that would directly impact physicians, since it would create a permanent Medicare Commission with a mission to curve spending growth in the Medicare Program. The Society is very concerned with the proposed Commission, as it could reduce patient access to care. Learn more »
Health Care Update: Society Responds to Recent Baucus Legislation (09/23/2009) — As a member of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, the Society sent a letter in response to the “America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009,” which was introduced last week by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT). In its letter, the Alliance explains that it cannot support the legislation unless changes are made, including: providing a permanent fix to the Medicare physician payment, eliminating the Medicare Commission proposal, and providing a budget neutral bonus to primary care physicians. Learn more »
Society Concerned with the Senate Finance Health Care Reform Legislation(09/16/2009) — The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee introduced health care reform legislation on September 16 that includes a temporary payment fix for physicians, industry financial relations reporting requirements, mandatory physician quality reporting and the requirement to review “overvalued” physician services. Read more about the Society’s position on these provisions »
Discuss Health Care Reform with you Legislators (08/12/2009) — Congress has taken its traditional August recess and while Senators and Representatives are home they need to hear from you. This is an excellent opportunity for you to share your concerns and preferences regarding health care reform with your Member of Congress. Many legislators hold events that are open to the public and the Society has a schedule of town hall meetings available for download. To prepare for your discussion, we also have a summary of recent activity in the House and Senate on issues affecting physicians and the EP community. Learn more »
Health Care Reform Update: Independent Medicare Advisory Council (IMAC) Removed from House Legislation (09/30/07) — The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee returned to discussions today after recess. During this week's recess, the committee’s leadership was negotiating with the Conservative Blue Dog Democrats. Four of the seven Blue Dogs were satisfied with deal, which means that the Committee can again review the text of the bill. One of the Society’s concerns has been addressed; the IMAC proposal is supposed to be removed from the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s version of the legislation, but this issue can be raised again in the Senate, since President Obama is strongly advocating for this provision. Learn more »
Health Care Reform: Committee Falls behind Schedule; “Blue Dog” Democrats Meet with President (07/22/09) — Facing continued opposition, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, announced late Monday night that there would be no health care reform markup on the House of Representatives' health care bill (H.R. 3200) Tuesday afternoon, which left the committee in an indefinite recess. The “Blue Dog” Democrats in the House have been unified in their mission to highlight overspending in the bill and met with President Obama on Tuesday to express their opinions. Of great concern to the Heart Rhythm Society is the tentative agreement made during that meeting to give an outside panel the power to reduce spending in the government-funded health care program. Learn more »
Society Volunteers Discuss Health Care Reform with Members of Congress (07/15/2009) — Jodie L. Hurwitz, MD, FHRS and R. Chris Jones, MD attended the Alliance of Specialty Medicine Legislative Conference on behalf of the Heart Rhythm Society on July 13-15. They were among 50 specialty physicians who met with members of Congress to discuss proposals in health care reform legislation including: Medicare physician payment reform, comparative effectiveness research and Physician Quality Reporting Initiatives. Learn more »
House Introduces Health Care Reform Legislation (07/15/2009) — On July 14 the U.S. House of Representatives introduced its health care reform legislation. The Society, along with other members of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, recently wrote a letter to the leadership of the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on Energy and Commerce commenting on their proposed health care discussion draft. The letter addressed Medicare physician payment reform, health information technology, the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, comparative effectiveness research and financial relationships with industry. Learn more »
Small Business Health Information Technology Financing Act (07/01/2009) — In order to help small practices comply with the health IT adoption requirement, Rep. Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-PA), Chair of the Regulations, Healthcare and Trade Subcommittee of the House Small Business Committee, has introduced the “Small Business Health Information Technology Financing Act” (H.R. 3014). This legislation would create a new loan program for the purchase of Health IT by eligible health care professional in solo or small group practices. Learn more »
Health Care Reform Legislation Discussion Draft (06/26/09) — The three House Committees with jurisdiction over health care released a joint health care reform legislation discussion draft on June 19 and have been holding hearings and discussions on it this week. The draft addresses a number of issues including, physician payment reform, comparative effectiveness research, financial relationships with industry, quality reporting and a public plan option. The Society has analyzed the 852-page document and provided a summary of applicable provisions. Learn more »
President's Speech at the AMA outlines Health Care Reforms Plan (06/17/2009) — President Barack Obama spoke at the American Medical Association's (AMA) House of Delegates meeting in Chicago on Monday, providing a comprehensive explanation of his deficit-neutral health care reform proposal which includes health IT, reform of the physician payment system, investment in prevention and the expansion of the role of MedPAC. Learn more »
Affordable Health Choices Act (06/10/09) — On Tuesday, June 9, the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee released the "Affordable Health Choices Act.” This legislation addresses key issues such as ensuring affordable coverage for all Americans, improving the quality and efficiency of health care through quality measures and resolving future workforce issues. The Society has summarized the physician-related provisions in this legislation. Learn more »
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Act of 2009 (06/10/2009) — On June 9, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) introduced the “Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Act of 2009” establishing a private, nonprofit corporation, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, to generate evidence on which health care interventions and services work and which don't. Comparative effectiveness research compares clinical outcomes, or the "clinical effectiveness," of alternative therapies and health strategies for the same condition. Learn more »
Society Responds to the Introduction of the Comparative Effectiveness Research Act of 2009 (06/03/2009) — On May 19 Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OH), joined by 11 co-sponsors, introduced H.R. 2502, “Comparative Effectiveness Research Act of 2009.” This legislation recognizes that Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) should be focused on informing doctor and patient decisions, not on cost issues. H.R. 2502 provides a clear, transparent process for the research development and ensures that the research is not used for coverage decisions. The Heart Rhythm Society has sent a letter of support. Learn more »
Senate Finance Committee: Potential Options to Finance Healthcare Reforms (05/26/2009) — The Senate Finance Committee held an hearing on May 12, 2009 discussing the potential options to finance the healthcare reform. The Committee released a paper outlining the options discussed during the roundtable: "Financing Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Proposed Health System Savings and Revenue Options," which addresses key issues such as ensuring appropriate payment, capturing productivity gains, and reducing geographic variation in spending. Learn more »
Specialty Medicine Testifies Before U.S. Senate (05/20/2009) — The Heart Rhythm Society is an active member of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine. Last week, Steven Schlossberg, MD testified on behalf of the Alliance in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. He discussed the need for health reform to support effective partnerships between specialty care and primary care which support high quality, cost effective, patient-centered care. Learn more »
Health Care Reform Update (05/20/2009) — Over the past three weeks, the Senate Committee on Finance, which has jurisdiction over the Medicare and Medicaid programs and federal tax policy, has released three options papers: Transforming the Health Care Delivery System; Expanding Health Care Coverage and Financing Comprehensive Health Care Reform. As an active member of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, the Society is working to analyze the impact of each of these options papers. Learn more »
Medicare Reforms Included in Senate Finance Committee's Health Care Reform (05/06/2009)— On Wednesday April 29, the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) released a white paper outlining the options discussed during an April 21 health care reform roundtable. The paper addresses key issues such as Medicare payment reform, physician quality reporting initiatives, health information technology, comparative effectiveness research and physician workforce issues. Learn more and read white paper »
President Signs Stimulus Package (02/18/2009) — After being approved by the House of Representatives and by the Senate on Friday, February 13, the stimulus package was signed by President Barack Obama yesterday. The final version of the legislation includes provisions addressing Health Information Technology, Comparative Effectiveness Research and funding of medical research. Learn more »
First Comprehensive Health Reform Bill Introduced in Congress (02/11/2009) — Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the first comprehensive health reform legislation, the “Health American Act of 2009,” on February 6. This bill guarantees portable, affordable, high-quality private healthcare for every American — no longer tying health insurance to employers. As of yesterday, 12 senators have signed on to co-sponsor the proposed legislation. Learn more »
Congress Negotiates Healthcare Priorities in the Economic Recovery Bill (1/21/2009) — On Thursday, January 15, 2009, Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives released the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009,” commonly referred to as the stimulus package or economic recovery bill. Stimulus package priorities include lowering healthcare costs and transforming the economy with science and technology. Learn more »
