AMA warns of looming health care access crisis for South Carolina seniors

HILTON HEAD, SC – The American Medical Association (AMA) today warned that South Carolina’s growing elderly population will soon face a shrinking pool of available physicians to care for them. Speaking today at the Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Medical Association, AMA Board Chair Edward L. Langston, MD, told physicians that Medicare’s promise of delivering high-quality, affordable health care coverage to older Americans and the disabled is threatened by looming Medicare cuts.

Without congressional action, Medicare will cut payments to physicians by 10.6 percent on July 1, 2008, and an additional 5 percent on January 1, 2009. During the next 18 months, South Carolina will lose $190 million in funding for care of the elderly and disabled.

“The drastic cuts will erode Medicare's physician foundation and heighten concerns expressed by the Institute of Medicine that the current health care workforce will be unable to meet the growing needs of the expanding senior population,” said Dr. Langston.

The number of Medicare beneficiaries in South Carolina has jumped 17.5 percent since 2001, a rate that is above the national norm. As more people rely on Medicare in the coming years, the cuts to the program will cause serious harm to seniors’ access to health care. An AMA survey revealed that 60 percent of physicians would limit the number of new Medicare patients they treat if payments are cut 10 percent in 2008.

The Medicare cuts will have a ripple effect that will be felt beyond South Carolina’s elderly population. The state has about 240,000 veterans and military families members will also face problems accessing care since payment rates in the government health care program, Tricare, are tied to Medicare payment rates.

“Physicians will be unable to absorb the coming cuts since current Medicare payment rates are about the same as they were in 2001,” said Dr. Langston. “Medicare’s failure to increase payments consistent with the cost of providing care has forced some physicians to delay making needed investments in health information technology to support quality improvement.”

To stop the payment cuts the AMA has called for support of the Save Medicare Act of 2008 (S. 2785). The legislation, recently introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), would replace 18 months of Medicare payment cuts with updates that better reflect medical practice cost increases.

News from the AMA

The AMA, along with the South Carolina Medical Association and other medical societies, sent a letter to the full Senate on March 28 in support of the bill, and called on senators to co-sponsor this important piece of legislation.

“A recent poll found that eight out of 10 Americans are concerned that the Medicare cuts will harm access to care for seniors and baby boomers, and nearly three-quarters of Americans want Congress to act,” said Dr. Langston. “Concerned citizens can learn more about the issue and take action through the AMA's Patients Action Network. It's important for members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation to hear directly from the public about their concerns.”

Patients can learn more and take action at http://www.patientsactionnetwork.org or toll free at 1(888)434-6200.

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For more information, plese contact:

Robert J. Mills
AMA Media Relations
(312) 464-5970