Medicare regulatory changes expected to be finalized as early as Oct. 30 pose an imminent threat to 80 million patients in America suffering from heart disease, especially for the nearly one in five Americans over the age of 65 living in rural areas. At issue is the proposed cutback of Medicare reimbursement rates to cardiologists for lifesaving diagnostic testing — rates could be slashed in some cases by an additional 40 percent for imaging and other vital diagnostic tools cardiologists use daily to save lives.

Many cardiologists who operate in rural areas believe the proposal will force them to discontinue providing diagnostic and imaging services – and even close their outreach offices completely – since many of these operations run at a fiscal loss but offer an important service to remote communities.

Dr. Bruce Murphy, a cardiologist with Little Rock Cardiology Clinic, which has 33 satellite offices serving rural communities, and his patients illustrate the real-life impact of this issue here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pco1n8sBLWA

If these cutbacks pass, cardiologists like Dr. Murphy will have to send their patients to hospitals instead, which means that many rural patients will face long-distance travel, out-of-pocket costs that are as much as five times higher than in-office co-pays and wait times for tests and test results that will take days, not hours as currently is the case when tests are performed in the cardiologist’s office.

I urge you to join the Guarding Hearts Alliance (www.guardingheartsalliance) in our fight to defeat this proposal and protect patient access to quality cardiac care.

Dan Caldwell

Arkansas