Immediate Action Needed — Ask Congress to Stop
EP Services Cuts

Ask your Representative to sign the Gonzalez-Rogers Letter to Secretary Sebelius

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed severe reimbursement cuts in its 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule that was released on July 1. Those cuts threaten patient access to EP services and jeopardize the financial stability of your practice.

Representatives Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Charles Gonzalez (D-TX) are currently circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter (PDF, 128K), which asks Members of Congress to support their outreach to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius. In the letter, they express their serious concerns about payment cuts to cardiology and oncology services and ask her to delay these cuts until further analysis is undertaken.

You Need to Act Now!

The House of Representatives is in recess until Labor Day, which means that your Representative could be available in your district. Please schedule a meeting with your legislator in his or her local office to express your concerns about the impact of the proposed rule on your practice (emphasizing the threat on patient access as well as the economic impact) and ask that he or she sign on to the letter to Secretary Sebelius (PDF, 455K).

If you cannot meet with your Member of Congress, e-mail to ask him or her to sign on to the Gonzalez-Rogers letter to Secretary Sebelius.

Thank you for helping the Heart Rhythm Society and the other cardiovascular specialty societies in our effort to ensure patients’ access to necessary cardiac care.

Additional Resources

• Patient Letter to Congress (Word, 28K) — please supply to your patients, asking them to personalize and send
• Help protect your heart rhythm care (PDF, 4M) — high-resolution advertisement suitable for printing and displaying in your practice