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Medicare News
AMA Turns Up the Heat to Get Congress to Stop
Medicare Pay Cut
Physicians group issues survey again saying care
for seniors threatened
 September 8, 2006 – The American Medical
Association turned up the heat yesterday to press Congress to take
action to stop the planned cut in their payments from Medicare, as it
has in past years. They issued a news release targeting senior citizens
saying a survey it commissioned has found 86 percent of Americans are
concerned that seniors’ access to health care will be hurt if the cuts
go through. The Bush administration "is showing no sign that it wants to
hold off the cuts," and aides to congressional leaders have indicated
that no action is likely to take place, according to the daily report by
KaiserNet.org. (See AMA news release below news report.)
 AMA
Lobbies Congress to Block Planned Medicare Physician Payment Cut Before
Recess
Most U.S. residents are not aware of a Bush
administration proposal to cut Medicare reimbursements for physician
services by 5.1% for 2007, but when informed, a majority say they are
concerned that the cuts could restrict access, according to a survey
released on Thursday by the
American Medical
Association, the
Raleigh News &
Observer reports (Goldsmith, Raleigh News & Observer, 9/8).
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Medicare Moves to Cut Physician Reimbursements by
5.1 Percent
Specialty hospitals get 3% boost if they report
quality measures
August 9, 2006 – Medicare moved forward yesterday
to finalize their announced plans to cut reimbursements to physicians by
5.1 percent, which has already been challenged in Congress. Physician
groups predict doctors will cut back on Medicare patients they serve,
while at least one government official thinks it will encourage them to
increase their volume. Medicare also announced a pay increase for
specialty hospitals that report quality care measures. The KaiserNet.org
daily report also says Medicare Advantage plans are showing substantial
growth, particularly with private, fee-for-service plans.
Read more...
Medicare May
Trade Physician Pay Cut for Quality of
Care Reports
'Pay-for-performance necessary due to
rapid growth in
spending on Part B'
July 29, 2006 – The tug-of-war between the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the American Medical Association
over what Medicare will pay for physician services, took an interesting
turn last week with the suggestion by the CMS administrator that the
government may scrap the reduction the pay rate if the doctors will
agree to providing the data necessary to measure the quality of care.
This could lead to paying individual physicians at rates tied to the
quality of their service.
Read more...
GAO Report Says Physicians Not Likely to Limit
Medicare Patients if Pay is Cut
AMA says up to 45% of physicians may limit practice
if Medicare cuts rates
July 24, 2006 – Just a few days ago the president
of the American Medical Association was on the speaking tour and telling
senior citizens that up to 45% of physicians, according to their survey,
will limit their Medicare patients if Congress does not stop a 5% cut in
doctor's payments scheduled by Medicare. The argument received a strong
counter on Friday from a report by the Government Accountability Office
that there is no evidence to expect this to happen, according to a
KaiserNet.org report today.
Read more...
Reduction in Medicare Reimbursement to Physicians
May Limit New Patients
AMA President says 45% of doctors will limit
Medicare practice
July
19, 2006 - Forty-five percent of physicians in the
American Medical
Association plan to decrease or stop the acceptance of new
Medicare beneficiaries and
TRICARE
members if Congress does not act to stop a 5% decrease in Medicare
physician payments that is scheduled to take effect in 2007, AMA
President Jeremy Lazarus said on Tuesday, the
AP/South Florida
Sun-Sentinel reports.
Read more..
Low Medicare, Medicaid Payments Costing Consumers,
Employers Billions
Two new studies show doctors, hospitals look
elsewhere for profits
June 1, 2006 – Two recent studies show that
billions of dollars in billing are being shifted to consumers, employers
and health plans by hospitals and physicians, who are trying to offset
their losses from treating Medicare and Medicaid patients. Medicare, for
example, pays up to 54 percent less for adult doctor visits than does
private insurance. Read
more...
Bush 2007 Budget Cuts $36 Billion from Medicare,
$12 Billion from Medicaid
Feb. 6, 2006 – President Bush today released
his budget proposal for 2007, which includes proposals to "save an
estimated $36 billion over five years in Medicare." The statement on
Medicare and Medicaid says, "The key to preserving the promise of
Medicare for America's seniors and disabled is to enhance the
long-term fiscal solvency of the program." The cuts proposed for
Medicaid reduce costs by $12 billion. Major new expenditures in
Health Care are aimed at fighting the flu pandemic.
Read more...
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on
Medicare
or
Medicare Drug Program |
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Congress in 1997 limited annual increases in
Medicare reimbursements for physician services, but Congress has waived
the cuts in most of the years that reductions would have been applied
(Alonso-Zaldivar,
Los Angeles Times,
9/8).
Physician rates currently are set by a sustainable
growth-rate formula. Congress in January halted a 4.4% cut that was
scheduled for 2006. Medicare reimbursements for physician services are
slated for nine years of cuts beginning in 2007 if Congress does not
enact changes (Barrett,
CQ HealthBeat,
9/7).
CMS
Administrator Mark McClellan in August said it would cost the federal
government $13 billion over five years if Congress acts to block the
2007 cut (Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report, 8/9).
The AMA survey, which questioned more than 1,000
adults by telephone in July, finds that 70% of adults are not aware that
the cut was scheduled to occur. Once informed about the cut, 86% of
respondents said they were worried that it might impede seniors' access
to health care.
A separate AMA survey conducted in March finds that
45% of physicians say they would scale back services to Medicare
beneficiaries or stop treating them altogether if the cuts are
implemented.
The most recent survey prompted AMA to call on
lawmakers to block the cuts, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 9/7).
AMA has "launched a nationwide blitz, ... insisting that lawmakers act
before they adjourn in October to campaign for re-election," the Times
reports.
Administration Stresses Quality-Based System
The Bush administration "is showing no sign that it wants to hold off
the cuts," and aides to congressional leaders have indicated that no
action is likely to take place, according to the Times.
Herb Kuhn, director of the CMS
Center for Medicare
Management, said, "To throw more money into this old system
is not the right answer. We need to work together to find a better and
more appropriate way to pay." Kuhn said physician reimbursements should
be based on the quality of care provided rather than on the number of
office visits held (Los Angeles Times, 9/8).
Medicare spokesperson Peter Ashkenaz said, "We
believe that the system itself is broken and that we shouldn't be
sending money into a bad system; we should fix it" (Raleigh News &
Observer, 9/8).
Senate Finance
Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has said payment
increases should be linked to reforms that reward quality care. AMA is
working with Medicare to design measurements of quality.
AMA Reaction
AMA board member William Hazel said, "It is probably fantasy to think
that we are going to be able to create a quality program in the next 30
days that is going to solve Medicare's problem. Absent that, we need to
get the payment problem resolved."
Hazel added, "The predicate for having a quality
system is to have enough funding in the system for physicians to be able
to afford to practice. We can't take the hit now and be expected to
offer better services" (Los Angeles Times, 9/8).
In addition, Hazel said that because the 2006 cut
was cancelled after the start of the year, doctors received
reimbursements at the reduced rate "for a month or so." Hazel said the
2007 cut should be cancelled before the start of 2007. "It is hard to
predict what plans [doctors] can and cannot participate in by the end of
the year if you don't know what the rules are going to be," Hazel said (CQ
HealthBeat, 9/7).
AMA News Release
As “Grandparents’ Day” Approaches
Most Americans Alarmed by Impending Medicare Cuts
that Will Harm Seniors’ Access to Care
Congressional Action Needed Now to Avert
Medicare Physician Payment Cuts
WASHINGTON – A new national poll released today
shows that the vast majority of Americans, 86 percent, are concerned
that seniors’ access to health care will be hurt if impending cuts in
Medicare physician payment go through beginning January 1, according to
the American Medical Association (AMA). Without congressional action,
Medicare will cut physician payments nearly 40 percent over the next
nine years, while practice costs increase at least 20 percent. As
Congress returns to Washington this week, there’s less than one month
left on the congressional calendar to stop Medicare physician payment
cuts.
“Seven out of 10 Americans are not aware of
impending Medicare physician payment cuts, but when told about the cuts,
86 percent are concerned that access to care for Medicare patients will
be hurt,” said AMA Board Member Dr. William A. Hazel, Jr., M.D.
“Seniors are concerned about their own access to
health care services as physicians are forced to make difficult practice
decisions because of Medicare cuts,” said Dr. Hazel. “Eighty-two
percent of current Medicare patients are concerned about the cuts impact
on their access to health care. What’s really startling is the huge
number of baby boomers concerned about the cuts impact on Medicare
patients’ access to care.”
“A staggering 93 percent of baby boomers age 45-54
are concerned about the cuts impact on access to care,” said Dr. Hazel.
“No doubt this grave concern reflects worry for parents who currently
rely on Medicare, and for their own future as Medicare patients.”
In just five years, the first wave of baby boomers
will reach age 65, and will turn to Medicare for health care. The
government plans to cut almost 200 billion dollars over the next nine
years from physician care for seniors – just as baby boomers are aging
into the Medicare program by the millions.
“Congress needs to stop the Medicare cuts and
instead tie physician payments to the cost of caring for America’s
seniors,” said Dr. Hazel. “Physicians are committed to caring for their
senior patients, but year after year of payment cuts that fall far below
practice cost increases make it difficult to continue doing so.”
The AMA is asking Congress to set Medicare on the
right course for the future by stopping the cuts and tying physician
payments to increases in practice costs. Next week, physicians from
across the country representing many state and medical specialty
societies will unite to pay a “House Call” on their lawmakers in
Washington and urge them to act before time runs out.
American’s concerns about the cuts impact on
seniors’ access to health care are legitimate. A national survey of
physicians conducted earlier this year by the AMA found that nearly
half, 45 percent, will be forced to decrease or stop taking new Medicare
patients if the planned cuts go through.
“The government made a promise to provide America’s
seniors with health care, now this Congress must fulfill that promise,”
said Dr. Hazel. “Congress must preserve seniors’ access to health care
by stopping Medicare physician payment cuts now, before its too late.”
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