Society of Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals (SICP) News

Legislative Update Regarding the CARE Bill and the 112th Congress

As you may be aware, the CARE Bill did not pass in the 111th Congress. The members of the Alliance for Quality Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (AQMIRT) were hopeful in December that the bill would be acted on prior to the holiday recess and new members took their seats. This new Congress has some leadership changes and is no longer controlled by the Democrats. In addition to this change, there are new committee chairs for:

• House Ways and Means Committee, now chaired by Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI);
• Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, now chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA);
• Energy and Commerce, now chaired by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI).

There is a change in the house rules with regard to any new legislation being introduced. This change “will require that every new bill contain a statement by the lawmaker who wrote it citing the constitutional authority to enact the proposed legislation.” The version of our CARE Bill to be introduced in this Congress is the Senate version S3737. We are having some debate as to the right time to introduce the bill this session. One thought is that if introduced too early, the bill could be bundled with the new healthcare reform passed last year and would be tossed out, as this Congress has already vowed to repeal that legislation. We don’t want to wait too long as we want time to gain attention on the floor and sign on more co-sponsors. It is our estimate that Bill S3737 will be introduced by mid-February. We are trying to get the bill scored by the Congressional Budget Office, because if the Alliance is correct, there will be a significant savings to Medicare, which would move the bill more quickly. We are looking into the economics departments of some Ivy League schools to see if any are willing to score the Bill as a project shown to provide cost savings, which would get the attention of the Congressional Budget Office. Another option is to have a private company do the same, but it would cost the Alliance roughly $20,000, and at this time, we are unsure if we can come up with the funds. The Alliance is still engaged with representatives Harkin, Enzi, and Barrows as sponsors of the bill. There has been a great deal of attention to the bill, much of it stemming from the publication of an article by the The New York Times regarding the overdosing of patients receiving radiation therapy. I will continue to update our members regarding the introduction of the CARE Bill and any actions taken on the bill by the current Congress. Regards, Jim Lincoln, SICP Advocacy Committee Chair

SICP Celebrates American Heart Month!

Take the opportunity to recognize and appreciate Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals in February! February 4: National Wear Red Day February 13-19: Cardiovascular Professionals Week February 7-14: Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Week February 18: Women’s Heart Health Awareness Day SICP would like to thank everyone who purchased the SICP American Heart Month Kit!

12th Annual New Cardiovascular Horizons

NCVH Discount for SICP Members June 1-4, 2011 New Orleans, Louisiana Now entering its 12th year, New Cardiovascular Horizons (NCVH) is the longest-running “head-to-toe” multi-disciplinary meeting to focus on peripheral interventions and limb preservation. Conference chairman, Craig M. Walker, MD, has set his sights on raising NCVH’s profile as the nation’s leading peripheral meeting. “We want to create a medical educational program that will promote better understanding, diagnosis and treatment of PAD and venous disease,” said Dr. Walker. “We want to establish PAD as a marker of high risk for cardiovascular death and disability.” Join us at New Cardiovascular Horizons for the SICP Signature RCIS Review Course, along with:

• 26 LIVE peripheral intervention cases performed from 6 different cath labs;
• 8 hours of advanced education for cath lab professionals;
• 4 hours of hands-on simulation training at the Tulane University Medical Simulation Center;
• 200+ lectures from world-renowned faculty.

SICP members receive a discounted registration rate of $299 for the entire 4-day meeting. Visit www.ncvhonline.com/sicp for details.