If you are a person with AF on Medicare (in the US and 65 or more) or a caregiver of someone with AF, we are calling on you to take immediate action to help you and others like you, to be able to access catheter ablation treatment if needed. There is a real threat as AF catheter ablations may become unavailable to those who need them. We need your help urgently to reverse this proposal by Medicare and preserve your ability to access an AF catheter ablation when and if you need one. If you are a caregiver of someone with AF, please act – we need as many as possible to respond urgently to the proposed changes.
Last year Medicare cut costs for catheter ablation and propose even more significant cuts for 2023. The patient voice needs to be not only heard but listened too to stop this erosion of access to life changing treatments.
Between Medicare’s actual cuts last year and their proposed cuts for 2023, the cumulative decrease in payments to electrophysiologists (EPs) for performing AF catheter ablations would be a draconian 40% cut! That would not only hurt EPs, more importantly it would hurt AF patients like you and your loved ones.
As a member of the Heart Rhythm Society and American College of Cardiology Committee I have heard some staggering statistics. Currently, in the US, there is one electrophysiologist for every 6,500 AF and arrhythmia (heart rhythm disorder) patients. The number of AF patients is expected to double by 2030. If the number of EPs undertaking catheter ablations decreases as expected (likely up to half), that could mean one EP for every 25,000 AF and arrhythmia patients! That would be the worst ratio in the developed world and mimic the developing world.
If that happens, waiting lists for ablations will stretch to years and be devastating for AF patients.
Has having a catheter ablation improved your quality of life? Would you like to continue to have access to a catheter ablation?
If you think you may ever want an AF catheter ablation, then the time to act is now to preserve your ability to get one when you need it.
Performing an AF catheter ablation involves a great deal of skill which can take a decade or more to develop. Medicare payment to EPs for performing AF catheter ablations is not commensurate with what it takes to do them. In fact, the payment would not even cover the amount of time an EP spends performing an AF catheter ablation.
This huge disincentive will have disastrous results for AF patients and their loved ones because of the following actions that will likely result from these cuts:
• Existing EPs will be reluctant to undertake catheter ablations as it will not be cost efficient for their time. Thus, fewer will be performed thereby less patients being offered this life-changing treatment.
• AF catheter ablations will be harder to get and waiting lists will become longer and longer. This will be a massive disservice to AF patients by making access to ablations much more difficult.
• The low reimbursement rates will result in some EPs completely abandoning this procedure, which will further lengthen waiting times for the remaining few offering this treatment – again detrimental to people living with AF.
Now is the time to act – have your say – make a difference to you and others like you – living with AF. Or maybe you have had an ablation and you know how beneficial it can be – please take the time to respond and ensure others are not denied the treatment you have received because of cost. Medicare is accepting comments from those who would be affected by this change. To comment, you only need to be an AF patient, or a loved one/caregiver concerned about getting care for a family member.
It only takes 2-5 minutes, based on how much you want to share about why this is so important to you and to all people living with AF.
Medicare is accepting comments from those who would be affected by this change. You do not have to have had an ablation to comment; you only need to be an AF patient or a loved one/caregiver concerned about getting care for a family member.
If you would like to preserve access to this treatment option, please provide comments to Medicare no later than September 6, 2022.
Once there, follow these simple steps that should take 2–5 minutes for you to submit your comment.
1. In the Comment field, mention that you are an AF patient or caregiver. Express your concern that Medicare is considering changes that could affect the ability of AF patients to access a catheter ablation for AF.
Share your personal perspectives or experiences in a few sentences. For example, you might mention how a catheter ablation has improved your (or a loved one’s) quality of life, how it stopped your symptoms, what you have been able to do as a result of having an ablation, how you want to have access to a catheter ablation sometime soon, or how not having access to a catheter ablation would hurt you.
You could also mention that access to this life-enhancing procedure should be available to all AF patients as appropriate and that few physicians are trained and qualified to perform this highly-specialized procedure (especially in underserved communities). Thus, it is vital to ensure fair reimbursement to allow all AF patients equitable access to ablation.
All comments should be constructive, not critical. Feel free to modify and include the verbiage shared below (in italics) in your comments, or include something similar in your own words. [If it looks like a boilerplate, they may discard it, so please customize it to you.]
Medicare has proposed cuts for electrophysiologists performing AF catheter ablations. Unfortunately, this will make it difficult for AF patients to receive a catheter ablation. As an AF patient, I request that Medicare withdraw the planned cuts and pay EPs appropriately for these procedures to preserve access to AF catheter ablations.
1. To learn more about how to make your voice heard, enter your Email Address, and if you would like a confirmation, click the checkbox.
2. For Identity, select the box that says “An Individual.”
3. Check the “I’m not a robot” box.
4. Click Submit Comment.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us Trudie.lobban@afa-international.org
It is time for us to mobilize and protect our right to access the treatments we need. It only takes 2-5 minutes to share why this is so important to you and to all AF patients.
The deadline to submit comments is September 6, so please do this NOW. Please DO NOT put it off.
If Medicare enacts this, you may not be able to access a catheter ablation procedure when you need one. So please ask Medicare to withdraw the planned cuts and keep paying EPs appropriately for performing ablations.
To read the details of the proposed rule change, see regulations.gov/document/CM...
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