ASE Responds to Congressional Request For Information on the Patients First Act

On August 21, ASE responded to a Request for Information from Representatives John Joyce, Greg Murphy, and Kim Schrier on the the Patients First Act (H.R. 9693), which aims at strengthening the Medicare physician payment system. The RFI asked for comments to address both offsets for a payment update and the bill as introduced. On offsets, ASE recommended Congress fund part of a payment update by extending mandatory Medicare accreditation to echocardiography laboratories, a step MedPAC first recommended in 2005 and one used successfully for other imaging modalities, citing Ontario data showing accreditation slowed volume growth and cut costs without reducing access. On the bill itself, ASE thanked the sponsors for incorporating its budget neutrality, conversion factor, and quality payment recommendations, but strongly opposed Section 207, which revives a standalone Appropriate Use Criteria mandate for advanced imaging that the cardiovascular community had already asked Congress to strike, and stated ASE cannot support the bill unless that section is removed.

This letter reinforces two positions ASE has held consistently across recent advocacy: support for mandatory echo lab accreditation as a fair, evidence-based way to fund payment reform, and firm opposition to a standalone AUC mandate. By pairing a constructive offset with a clear line on Section 207, ASE stays consistent with its earlier May 8 and May 13 comments and explains that the Society supports meaningful reform while continuing to reject a policy CMS itself already abandoned.