The ACC this morning held a press conference on health care reform as part of the National Coalition on Health Care, of which the ACC and a number of other specialty societies and consumer groups are members. Ralph G. Neas of NCHC, Ron Pollack of Families USA, Mary Andrus of the Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities, Terry Gardiner of the Small Business Majority, Mary Wilson of the League of Women Voters, and Richard Kirsch of Health Care for America Now and I were the featured speakers. From today's Advocate:

The press conference was in keeping with the College's ongoing efforts to work with multiple stakeholders to enact health care reform that protects patient access, addresses tort reform, improves quality/coordination and reduces disparities in care. The ACC had the opportunity to highlight the cardiology community's concerns with the current legislation and urge the elimination of provisions that have reduced public trust and increased partisan rancor.

Even more importantly, it also placed us front and center with key consumer groups who have the ability to help us not only with crucial elements of reform, but with mitigating the impacts of the 2010 Medicare cuts. ACC leadership was also able to individually educate the media in attendance on the impacts of the CMS Medicare cuts on the practice of cardiovascular medicine and patient access to quality care.

Your ACC continues to navigate a critical path through the reform quagmire that truly meets the needs and goals of the cardiology community, while also protecting the patient-physician relationship. Click here to read the ACC's recent letter from ACC President Alfred Bove to House and Senate leaders outlining both the College's areas of support and areas of concern.

In other news, efforts continue to fight the cardiology payment cuts included in the Rule. Please take a few minutes to call or write your representatives and urge them to cosponsor legislation (H.R. 4371) introduced by Rep. Gonzalez (D-TX). We've set a goal of 100 more cosponsors -- contact your member today (so far we're at 77 -- but we'll need a lot more to force some action). To see if your member is already one of the 77 cosponsors and to say thank you, click here. ACC staff is working on generating similar legislation in the Senate. For more on ACC's efforts related to Medicare payment reform, go to http://www.campaignforpatientaccess.org.