VIDEO: Medicare cuts could devastate the field of electrophysiology

"One big issue when we talk about access to care is the way we are all reimbursed," Lakkireddy said. "CMS recently imposed unprecedented cuts on this very young field that has really changed the way we take care of arrhythmias. By imposing a 35%-42% cut, it has essentially created a scenario where it is going to destroy electrophysiology as a field."

There are several reasons why the cuts are so devastating, according to Lakkireddy. First, there are only about 1,500 EPs who can do complex ablations. There are about 150 new EPs entering the market each year, which is about the same number of EPs lost to retirement each year. At the same time, there are increasing numbers of patients who need EP treatments. He said the drastic cuts to EP reimbursements create a disincentive for medical students to want to become an EP. 

"We are going to create a huge access to electrophysiology issue," Lakkireddy predicted.

The HRS, ACC and several other cardiology societies were recently among more than 120 medical societies that joined the American Medical Association (AMA) in a letter to congressional leaders about deep Medicare cuts planned for 2023. The letter asked Congress to work with the physician community to enact long-term, sustainable solutions to the systemic problems in the Medicare physician payment system. The letter also called on Congress to prevent the scheduled cuts from going into effect in 2023.

Citing a new analysis of Medicare Trustees data, the letter emphasized the key point that Medicare physician payments have been reduced by 20%, adjusted for inflation from 2001-2021. The letter also notes that physicians are the only Medicare providers not receiving an inflationary update in 2023.