| 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. |
| Medicare Physician Payment Update On Wednesday, December 19, Congress passed a Medicare package before it adjourned for the holidays. The 10% Medicare physician pay cut included in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Final Rule was averted with a .5% increase for the first six months of 2008. The package also extends the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, which provides a 1.5% bonus for reporting quality measures for another six months and does not use additional imaging cuts to pay for the package. President Bush signed this into law on December 29, 2007. |
| House Passes Children's Health And Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act Before August Recess The House of Representatives passed the CHAMP Act, H.R. 3162, on August 1 by a vote of 225 to 204. It includes the re-authorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and repeals the Sustainable Growth Rate for determining the yearly Medicare physician payment update. Instead of a 10% cut included in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed 2008 rule, the bill provides a positive update of .5% for 2008 and for 2009. The offsets are cuts to Medicare Advantage (Part C) and an increase in the tobacco tax. |
| SVS Signs Onto Letter Urging CMS To Adopt Policy Changes SVS signed onto a |
| Final Rule On Deficit Reduction Act Released November 1, 2006 SVS submitted comments on October 10, 2006 to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed rule on the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005. |