Dear Majority Leader Reid:

							                                    December xx, 2009



Dear Majority Leader Reid:

We are writing to express our concern with the 2010 Medicare physician fee schedule
rule and its potential impact on private practice cardiology. The Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (CMS) have used new survey data to determine physician
payment rates. Unless Congress intervenes, cardiologists will experience significant
payment cuts to cardiology effective January 1, 2010.

The CMS data used to calculate these fees showed a 42 percent decline in costs
associated with running a cardiovascular practice. According to cardiologists, their costs
have actually increased five to six percent annually. Nonetheless, cardiology practices
and their patients are bracing for significant payment cuts.

Some fear a mass migration from private practice to hospital-based care, potentially
threatening access for Medicare beneficiaries. They are concerned that this could result
in longer waits for tests, higher co-pays and more costly trips to the hospital for treatment
of outpatient services.

Our nation has made significant progress in improving the lives of individuals with heart
disease over the last three decades. In the last decade alone, heart disease related deaths
have decreased by 27 percent thanks to a sophisticated system of diagnosis and treatment.
These cuts could reverse decades of progress in the treatment of heart disease.

We hope Congress will seriously consider the potential impact of these cuts as work
continues on health reform legislation.


                                         Sincerely,