Medicare Physician Payment Action Kit

Before a scheduled 27 percent Medicare pay cut was able to take effect on Jan 1 2012, the U.S. House of Representatives reached agreement with the Senate on a two-month extension of important policies.

AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD, called on Congress to "enact a real and fiscally responsible solution to this sorry cycle of scheduled cuts and short-term patches that compromises access to care for patients and drives up costs for taxpayers. Members of Congress need to use this time to work in a bipartisan manner to provide long-term stability for seniors, military families and the physicians who care for them."

Now is the time for Congress to come together and permanently repeal the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and the AMA has developed new messaging and talking points that outline why this is the fiscally responsible approach - see column to the right under "Related Links."

What can physicians do now?

Register your strong concerns with your members of Congress that yet another SGR deadline is approaching and Congress has yet to act. Call the AMA grassroots hotline at (800) 833-6354 and ask your representatives and senators what specific steps they will take to end the annual SGR fiasco.

AMA advocacy on SGR repeal

You can explore the AMA’s recent and ongoing advocacy on this issue by exploring the Medicare Physician Payment Action Kit, which is the compilation of resources found on this page.

From information on the AMA's multi-million dollar 2011 fall ad campaign that urged Congress to fix Medicare, to AMA lobbying correspondence and issue background, these resources provide insight into the SGR issue and illustrate the need to find a permanent solution. The AMA encourages all physicians in the country to contact their members of Congress and ask them what specific steps they will take to end the annual SGR fiasco.

Current Legislative Environment

Physicians got a brief reprieve from a 27 percent Medicare pay cut as the U.S. House of Representatives reached agreement with the Senate on a two-month extension of important policies that expire on Jan. 1.

Meantime, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the annual Medicare participation enrollment period through Feb. 14. The previous deadline was Dec. 31.

The effective date for any participation status change during the extension, however, remains Jan. 1, and will be enforced for the entire year. According to CMS, contractors will accept and process any participation elections or withdrawals made during the extended enrollment period that are post-marked on or before Feb. 14.

Stay tuned for further updates and for ways to get involved to end this cycle of short-term Medicare patches.

AMA Campaign Urges Congress to Fix Medicare Now

The AMA launched a campaign in January 2012 to urge patients and physicians to tell Congress that the time for repeal of the broken Medicare physician payment formula is now. The video below is part of the AMA's grassroots effort to urge patients and physicians to contact Congress and encourage repeal of the Medicare physician payment formula before the 27.4 percent cut occurs on March.

How Medicare cuts threaten access to care in your state

Select your state below to see how the looming Medicare cuts will affect access to care. Patients in many areas of the country already face problems getting physician care, and the problems will get worse unless Congress acts quickly to prevent the cuts and works to repeal the broken Medicare physician payment formula.

Alabama	Indiana	Nebraska	South Carolina
Alaska	Iowa	Nevada	South Dakota
Arizona	Kansas	New Hampshire	Tennessee
Arkansas	Kentucky	New Jersey	Texas
California	Louisiana	New Mexico	Utah
Colorado	Maine	New York	Vermont
Connecticut	Maryland	North Carolina	Virginia
Delaware	Massachusetts	North Dakota	Washington
Florida	Michigan	Ohio	Washington, DC
Georgia	Minnesota	Oklahoma	West Virginia
Hawaii	Mississippi	Oregon	Wisconsin
Idaho	Missouri	Pennsylvania	Wyoming
Illinois	Montana	Rhode Island