Bethesda, MD (April 16, 2015) - The Heart Failure Society of America is pleased to update our members on recent advocacy initiatives. On April 8, the Senate overwhelmingly approved 92-8 a Medicare payment reform bill that includes repeal of the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula that has served as the underpinning of Medicare physician payment.  This bill is identical to the bill approved by the House in late March. The bill has now been passed to President Obama, who is expected to sign it.   Click here to read more from Cardiovascular Business about how HFSA and other cardiovascular societies all joined in the push to repeal the SGR formula.

CMS should begin processing claims very shortly, but HFSA expects to receive guidance from CMS regarding the specifics, and will pass this on to you in turn. This is a significant bipartisan policy accomplishment to bring much needed reforms to the Medicare program, getting rid of the need for multiple short-term fixes to stop the significant cuts.

We are also pleased to announce that the April 8 congressional briefing on the importance of medical research to address health care disparities was a success! NHLBI Director Gary Gibbons, MD, served as the keynote speaker, and Christopher O'Connor, MD, spoke on the topic of heart failure.  Other speakers addressed topics such as the importance of research for the lung and sleep components of NHLBI.  HFSA co-hosted this briefing under the auspices of HFSA's membership in the National Coalition for Heart and Stroke Research.  We had 56 attendees representing Hill staff and other organizations with an interest in the success and full funding of the NHLBI.

And for a look back at the process of HFSA support for recent advocacy initiative and updates on future related news, be sure to log into Members Only section of the HFSA website and check our advocacy sections!