| House Passes Comprehensive Health Care Reform Bill The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act on Saturday night, November 7 by a vote of 220-215. See highlights that have an impact upon vascular surgery. The bill was endorsed by the AMA, AARP and the American College of Surgeons. However, the bill did not include a provision on Medicare physician payment. This is contained in a separate bill, H.R. 3961, Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009, which would reform the Sustainable Growth Rate formula that annually updates reimbursement rates for physician services in Medicare. The House is expected to vote on this during the week of November 16. Learn more. |
| Highlights of the House Tri-Committee Health Care Reform Bill - “America's Affordable Health Choice Act of 2009”, H.R. Read highlights of the House Tri-Committee Health Care Reform Bill - “America's Affordable Health Choice Act of 2009”, H.R. |
| SVS Signs Onto Letter to President Obama with 17 Other Surgical Specialty Associations The sign-on letter was sent to the President following comments he made at an August 11, 2009 town hall meeting on health care reform, intimating that surgeons are motivated to make treatment decisions based on what they are reimbursed. |
| Stimulus Bill Enacted The House of Representatives and Senate passed H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 13, 2009 and President Obama signed the bill on February 17. Click here for a summary of the major health care provisions that have an impact upon vascular surgery; these include Comparative Effectiveness Research, Health Information Technology, NIH Research and Funding, Medicare Improvement Fund Modifications and Prevention and Wellness. |
| The SVS Washington Outpost
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| Highlights of H.R. 6331 -- Medicare Improvements For Patients And Providers Act of 2008 On July 15, 2008, President Bush vetoed H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. The main reason was the bill uses cuts to Medicare Advantage ($20 billion over five years) to finance the bill. Within a few hours, both the House of Representatives and Senate voted overwhelmingly to override the veto – 383 to 41 in the House and 70 to 26 in the Senate. The following are Highlights of the law |
| SVS Signs Letter supporting Stabenow bill, Save Medicare Act of 2008 SVS signed onto a letter with many other physician groups in support of S.2785, the Save Medicare Act of 2008 sponsored by Senator Stabenow (D-MI). The bill would extend the 2008 Medicare physician payment increase of .5% from July 1 - December 31, averting a 10.6% decrease for the second half of this year. It also provides a 1.8% increase for 2009. |
| Large Medicare Reductions in President's FY 2009 Budget On February 4, President Bush released details of his Fiscal Year 2009 budget, which includes large Medicare reductions - $178 billion over the next five years. Significant for vascular surgeons, it does not include any increases for the physician payment update. |