WASHINGTON, D.C.—SCAI President Cindy Grines, MD, MSCAI, released the following statement concerning the anticipated passage of legislation to exempt Medicare from budget sequestration by the U.S. Senate:  

“We applaud the introduction of the bipartisan amendment to the ‘Medicare Sequestration Relief Act’ (S.748), by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) that would extend a critical lifeline to health care providers and protect access to patient care during this unprecedented public health emergency. The swift passage of this important legislation before the March 31st deadline that would reduce Medicare payments to interventional cardiologists and other health care providers is essential. 

We urge Congress to move quickly and enact legislation to extend the Medicare sequester moratorium through the duration of the COVID-19 health crisis. Cutting resources available to front-line physicians and other health care providers during a pandemic is simply bad public policy and threatens patient access to the quality health care they need and deserve. 

It is critical that Congress act by March 31st for all Medicare providers—from those on the front lines of the COVID pandemic to those providing life-saving heart and vascular interventions—before they face an ill-timed cut to Medicare reimbursement.”  

We look forward to working with members of Congress to address the additional 4% Medicare cut, approximately $36B, in additional sequestration cuts scheduled to take effect at the end of the year as a result of the PAYGO Act rules that require the cost of the American Recovery Act to be offset or automatically trigger an across the board cut to Medicare at the end of the year.” 

SCAI members can encourage their Senator to support legislative relief from the pending Medicare cuts by visiting here. 

Media Contact:
Kimberly Powell
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