Medicare Cutbacks Threaten to Put Cardiac Care Out of Reach for Millions of Rural...( Guarding Hea...),Health

Guarding Hearts Alliance Claims Cuts Are Based On Questionable Data And Will Restrict Patient Access to Timely Diagnostic Tools Medicare regulatory changes expected to be finalized in November - but overshadowed by the partisan bluster of the ongoing health care debate - pose an imminent threat to 80 million patients in America suffering from heart disease, especially for the nearly one in four Americans over the age of 65 living in rural areas.

Ann Arbor, Mich. (PRWEB) October 9, 2009 -- Medicare regulatory changes expected to be finalized in November - but overshadowed by the partisan bluster of the ongoing health care debate - pose an imminent threat to 80 million patients in America suffering from heart disease, especially for the nearly one in four Americans over the age of 65 living in rural areas.

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

"We currently provide cardiac services to nine remote clinics two to four times each month," said Dr. Joe Stevenson, president of Sierra Nevada Cardiology Associates in Reno, Nev. "If these Medicare cuts go through, we will not be able to provide diagnostic echocardiography services on-site at those locations. That will mean our rural patients will have to drive up to 400 miles round trip to obtain these critical imaging tests. Some of them just won't be able or willing to do that. And since 50 percent of patients experience their first cardiac disease symptoms as a heart attack, the lack of access to diagnostic tests will put their lives at tremendous risk."

At issue is the amount Medicare, a federal program that helps people 65 or older pay health care costs, reimburses cardiologists for lifesaving diagnostic testing. Be
'/>"/>