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Congress and Administration Fail to Fix Medicare Payment Formula
Physician Payments Cut 10.6% on July 1st
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Congress and Administration Fail to Fix Medicare Payment Formula
Physician Payments Cut 10.6% on July 1st
FROM THE American Medical Association
Seniors need our help; call your senators and tell them to put a stop to Medicare cuts
On June 26, by a vote of 58-40, the Senate failed to proceed to adopt the "Medicare Improvements to Patients and Providers Act" (H.R. 6331). Instead, a group of Republican senators followed the direction of the Bush Administration and voted to protect health insurance companies at the expense of America's seniors, disabled and military families.
Sixty votes were needed to pass the bill. In a procedural move, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., changed his vote to "No" so that he could call the bill up at a future date. Therefore, the measure fell one vote short of being adopted.
(On July 1, 2008) the government will slash Medicare physician payments by 10.6 percent, forcing many physicians to make the difficult choice to limit the number of Medicare patients in their practices. It is critical that Congress take action to replace the next 18 months of cuts with positive updates based on practice cost increases. If they don't, half of doctors say they will need to cut staff, and 14 percent say they will quit patient care altogether.
This is an outrage. Senators left for their July 4th picnics knowing that the most vulnerable Americans are at risk because of the Senate's inability to act to stop drastic payment cuts for health care services that are needed by our Medicare and TRICARE patients.
"Today, thanks to some senators, we stand at the brink of a Medicare meltdown," said AMA President Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD. See what else Dr. Nielsen had to say about the Senate's vote on the Medicare bill.
Earlier last week, the House voted to preserve access to care for Medicare patients in a bipartisan landslide vote to pass H.R. 6331 by an overwhelming margin of 355-59. The House made seniors, the disabled and military families a top priority. The AMA appreciates the courage of the 59 Senators, including 9 Republicans, who voted to put patients ahead of partisan politics and vote for H.R. 6331.
For doctors, this is not a partisan issue—it's a patient access issue. The Senate must return from their recess and make seniors' health care their top priority. And as physicians, we must stand up for seniors to make sure this issue is acted on immediately.
Your help is still needed. First, see how your senators voted. Then call your senators at (800) 833-6354. If they voted in favor of H.R. 6331, thank them for their support. If not, tell them to stop the Medicare payment cuts and keep their promise to protect America's patients and physicians.
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