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OPINIONDelegates issue call to action: Time to fix the Medicare mistakeThe AMA has launched an action plan to convince Congress to stop the Medicare physician payment cuts.Editorial. Jan. 13, 2003. The physicians' signs said it all: "Fix the mistake," "Stop the cuts" and "Seniors deserve better." Doctors are outraged over the U.S. Senate's failure last year to pass legislation to prevent Medicare payment cuts, and it showed in these messages flashed at a physician rally held during the AMA's Interim Meeting in December 2002. Doctors have good reason for their anger. Last year's 5.4% pay cut has already damaged patients' access to physicians. An AMA survey found that one in four physicians has either limited the number of new Medicare patients they treat or will do so soon. This year, reimbursement will be slashed another 4.4.%. All told, doctors are looking at losing $11 billion in Medicare payments nationwide over the next three years. Physician reimbursement in 2005 would slip below 1991 levels. All of these cuts are the result of what is widely acknowledged to be a faulty payment update formula. Reductions of this magnitude would cause a "Medicare meltdown" in patient access. With each annual cut, more physicians would join the ranks of colleagues forced by basic economics to limit the number of Medicare beneficiaries they serve. It's not just Medicare patients who would be affected. Because TRICARE rates are tied to Medicare, the families of active duty military and military retirees are also at risk. The Retired Officers Assn. has asked Congress to step in to stop the cuts. And intervene is exactly what lawmakers must do. Physicians' Medicare payment rates aren't yet set in stone. Congress has some time to review the 2003 payment rule -- 60 days from when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published it late last year. So lawmakers have a narrow window of opportunity to complete the task they left undone last year and reverse the pay cuts. [...]Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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