September is Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Awareness Month! PAD is a chronic circulatory condition, which if left untreated can result in unnecessary limb amputations. PAD affects nearly 20 million Americans, and an estimated 200,000 of them – disproportionately from minorities communities – suffer avoidable amputations every year.
By increasing PAD awareness nationally, the CVC hopes to improve access to PAD screening and treatments, which is shown to improve quality of life, reduce care costs and prevent limb loss.
Symptoms of PAD
- Pain in the lower leg.
- Sometimes there is not pain in the leg, but just fatigue and tiredness.
- Diminished pulse in lower leg, pain, or discomfort
- Discoloration
- Formation of sores
- Can be progressive and severe leading to amputation, cardiovascular death, or stroke.
People Who Are At Risk
- Smokers
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Atheroslerosis
- High Cholesterol
- Age above 60 years
Risks Of Not Treating PAD
- Amputation
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Heart Attack
- Stroke
Get Involved
In recognition of PAD Awareness Month, the CardioVascular Coalition is urging advocates to ask their lawmakers in Congress to support policies to block planned cuts to Medicare specialty providers.
In the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Proposed Rule for CY2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to deeply cut payments to specialty providers – including “vascular surgery,” “cardiac surgery,” and “interventional radiology” – in 2021. Specifically, Medicare plans to cut “vascular surgery” by seven percent (-7%), “cardiac surgery,” by nine percent (-9%) and “interventional radiology” by nine percent (-9%).