Court dismisses cardiologist fee challenge
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
American College of Cardiology is "deeply disappointed" in a decision by a U.S. District Court of South Florida judge not to review a legal challenge to Medicare's 2010 physician fee schedule, the group says in a Jan. 12 statement. ACC filed suit last month hoping to reverse an 8% drop in Medicare payments for certain cardiology office services (1"The Gray Sheet" Dec. 14, 2009). According to a Jan. 13 research note from Concept Capital Washington Research Group, sales of imaging companies GE, Philips, Siemens and Digirad could be hurt if cardiologists are unable to tolerate the fee cuts and thus "decrease their purchases of new equipment or close their practices.