With over 75 newly elected lawmakers and at least 40 new members sitting on our committees of jurisdiction – House Appropriations, Energy & Commerce, Veterans' Affairs, Ways & Means and Senate Appropriations, Finance, and Health, Education Labor & Pensions – we have a unique opportunity to connect with these legislators early to help shape the health care agenda.
Your expertise as a clinician is essential in this process, and your involvement in our grassroots efforts will help ensure that the cardiovascular community remains a priority for lawmakers as they consider which provisions to include in the upcoming funding bill.
Two key issues require immediate attention:
- Developing a sustainable Medicare payment system to increase patient access to care and ensure financial stability, including immediate relief from the 2.8% cut to Medicare physician payment that took effect on January 1, 2025.
- Making Medicare telehealth flexibilities established during the pandemic permanent, as they will expire on March 31, 2025, unless Congress takes action.
Please send messages to your members of Congress today through ACC's action alert system, urging them to advance these issues. We must start our outreach and education efforts now to keep the cardiovascular community at the forefront of lawmakers' minds, especially as funding deliberations are ongoing.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to ACC's Congressional Affairs team:
Lucas Sanders, Managing Director, Congressional & State Affairs, lsanders@acc.org
John Kristan, Associate Director, Legislative Affairs, jkristan@acc.org
Adrienne Mortimer, Associate Director, Legislative Affairs, amortimer@acc.org
Foster Curry, Manager, Legislative Affairs, fcurry@acc.org