For some time now, catheter-based renal denervation therapy has been considered a transformative technology for reducing blood pressure in patients with uncontrolled or resistant hypertension. The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (New York) recognized the importance of this topic last fall when the organization dedicated a four-hour session during its annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting (Medical Device Daily, Oct. 26, 2012).

A clumsy attempt to address the Medicare Part B physician fee problem has nagged at Washington for a decade, but it appears Congress is ready to put a doc fix in play. Whether it’ll happen depends on politics and, as a skeptic might argue, some accounting sleight-of-hand, but it appears this is a now-or-never moment. As has been widely noted, the Congressional Budget Office recently released a report proposing a lower figure for the budgetary effects of a repeal of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) mechanism than has been calculated for some time. Instead of the average figure of $30...