AMA Predicts ‘Medicare Meltdown’ as Senate Fails to
Stop 21% Pay Cut for Doctors
Physicians launch multi-million dollar ad campaign
stressing loss of care for seniors, military retirees
June 3, 2010 - The U.S. Senate’s failure to act
before a June 1 deadline to avoid a 21 percent Medicare physician pay
cut has put seniors’ health care at grave risk, according to the
American Medical Association, which launched a new media campaign today.
A new AMA survey shows that many physicians are already limiting the
number of Medicare patients they treat.
The AMA today launched the multi-million dollar
national advertising campaign, with ads on TV and radio and in
newspapers, including The New York Times, USAToday and The Wall Street
Journal.
“The Senate has turned its back on our nation’s
seniors and the physicians who care for them by leaving for vacation and
failing to stop a 21 percent Medicare cut before their self-imposed June
1 deadline,” said AMA President J. James Rohack, M.D.
“Today, the AMA is unveiling a new multi-million
dollar ad campaign encouraging the public to contact their Senators and
tell them to get back to work and fix Medicare now.”
The 21 percent cut also hurts our nation’s military
families, as TRICARE rates are tied to Medicare.
“It is sad and ironic that Senators raced home to
celebrate Memorial Day without first voting to preserve health care for
active duty military families,” Dr. Rohack said.
Yesterday, the AMA reports it received a call from
Joan, a retired nurse, who was looking for a Maryland physician for her
72 year-old sister and could not find one who took Medicare. According
to an AMA news release, “Both physician offices she called said that as
of this June 1 they were no longer accepting new Medicare patients - a
real life example of how decisions made in Washington hurt real people.”
The medical association says a new online survey of
9,000 physicians who care for Medicare patients “confirms that seniors
are already being hurt by Congress’ mismanagement of the Medicare
program.”
About one in five physicians (17%) say they have
already been forced to limit the number of Medicare patients in their
practice, according to the survey. Nearly one-third of primary care
physicians (31%) have already been forced to take that action. The top
two reasons physicians gave for these actions were the ongoing threat of
future cuts and the fact that Medicare payment rates were already too
low.
“Make no mistake: Physicians want to care for
seniors and military families, but the chronic instability caused by the
threat of future payment cuts has already taken its toll – and a 21
percent cut will make matters much worse,” Dr. Rohack said.
“This is the third time this year that Congress
has allowed a Medicare deadline to expire without action,” Dr. Rohack
said.
“Each time Congress delays fixing the Medicare
physician payment cut makes the problem worse and the price tag higher
for the American taxpayer. Enough is enough. The Senate needs to fix the
Medicare physician payment system for America’s seniors once and for
all.”
Bill passed with help of only three Republicans,
signed by President last night
