Surgical Specialties at Risk: How Medicare Cuts to Surgery Will Affect You and Your Patients

In the wake of the COVID pandemic, another threat stands to strain hospitals, surgeons, and their patients. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is expected to cut reimbursement for cardiothoracic surgeons by as much as 9% starting on January 1, 2021. These cuts, coupled with the economic toll from the COVID crisis, likely will result in irreparable damage to surgical practices and patient care. In this episode of the STS Summer Series, Keith S. Naunheim, MD, speaks with experts in health policy, advocacy, and public relations about:

- How Medicare cuts will affect cardiothoracic surgeons and their patients
- STS advocacy efforts to stop these cuts
- Progress made by the Surgical Care Coalition to make lawmakers aware of the value that surgeons provide

MODERATOR
Keith S. Naunheim, MD
STS Past President
Chair, STS-PAC Board of Advisors
SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital
St. Louis, MO

PANELISTS
Francis C. Nichols III, MD
Chair, STS Workforce on Coding and Reimbursement
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

Alan M. Speir, MD
Chair, STS Council on Health Policy and Relationships
Inova Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery
Falls Church, VA

Liz Dahan, MA, MBA
Director, Brunswick Group
Washington, DC

Noah Kristula-Green
Director, Brunswick Group
Washington, DC