HRA: 2025 Advocacy Review
As we wrap up the year, Heart Rhythm Advocates can look back on a year defined by clarity, momentum, and a new sense of purpose in how we advocate for patients, clinicians, and the entire EP field. We began the year as a promising but new organization, and we’re ending it as something far more durable: a coordinated national voice shaping the future of arrhythmia care.
This recap captures what we achieved together across federal policy, workforce development, patient access, and organizational growth, all while building the foundation for an even more ambitious year ahead.
Federal Policy Progress
In its inaugural year, HRA firmly established itself in the national policy conversation. On Capitol Hill, we logged more than 80 congressional meetings, submitted multiple technical and regulatory comment letters, and developed a recognizable presence with committees overseeing Medicare, CMS oversight, and commercial insurance reform.
One of the most meaningful policy victories of the year was ensuring that EP ablations remained on - and were expanded within - the ASC Covered Procedures List. This improves access, lowers bottlenecks, and allows specialists to treat patients in the safest and most appropriate setting for their care. It’s a win that will pay dividends for years.
HRA also elevated the national debate on prior authorization reform, driving home the clinical consequences of delays in EP care. We emphasized that prior authorization in EP is not merely a paperwork nuisance, it is a patient safety risk. That framing is now reflected in congressional conversations, CMS discussions, and coalition strategy, positioning HRA as a leading voice in this space.
We pushed aggressively for Medicare payment stability, advocating for accurate valuation of remote monitoring, cognitive EP services, and the sustained oversight needed for modern arrhythmia management. We also took a sharper stand on correcting flawed practice-expense calculations rather than simply delaying them.
Finally, after the HEARTS Act became law last year, HRA stepped up to ensure the law actually gets funded. With appropriations still in flux and the CR extending to January 30, the implementation fight is squarely in front of us, and we will continue to fight.
State-Level Influence and Workforce Policy
HRA has begun to build out our Regional Sections, HRA’s on-the-ground advocacy hubs. These physician-led groups are organized by geography to monitor state legislation, mobilize local members, and surface state-level issues that affect EP access, reimbursement, licensure, and workforce capacity. These groups will anchor our state-level presence, advocating for policy that protects EP, tracking early hearings, and engaging with state policymakers on licensure, workforce, and access issues. Across the country, we monitored dozens of state bills touching licensure rules, workforce pipelines, telehealth flexibilities, ASC regulations, and insurer utilization management.
Patient Access, Infrastructure, and Survival
We continued strengthening national cardiac emergency readiness, pushing for effective implementation of AED availability, CPR training, and HEARTS Act infrastructure. But we also widened the lens: HRA worked to link survival policy directly to EP care. The message resonated strongly in 2025: surviving sudden cardiac arrest is the beginning of a clinical journey that requires immediate and reliable access to EP specialists. Policymakers increasingly understand that survival and long-term outcomes are inseparable from the EP workforce and EP access policies we’re fighting for.
Looking Ahead to 2026
While 2025 delivered meaningful progress, the first session of the 119th Congress left a great deal of unfinished business. Prior authorization reform, payment stability, Medicare Advantage oversight, HEARTS Act funding, state licensure progress, and multiple access issues remain only partially resolved.
The second session, tightened by an election year, will move quickly. HRA is preparing now to make sure those unresolved issues don’t remain unfinished. We’re already shaping the strategy, building coalitions, and positioning ourselves for early action in January so that 2026 becomes a year of follow-through, not déjà vu. We will be hitting the ground running as soon as the calendar turns.
Closing the Year
Heart Rhythm Advocates enters 2026 with more credibility, structure, and momentum than ever before. Every meeting, every comment letter, every Hill conversation, every member who engaged this year helped build something real and durable.
If you were part of that work, Thank You.
And if you haven’t joined HRA yet, this is the perfect moment. Membership strengthens our voice, expands our reach, and increases our ability to secure the policy wins EP patients and clinicians depend on.
Come be part of what we’re building. The work ahead matters, and it matters that you’re in the room with us.