OPINIONInterim Meeting shows physician activism in actionAMA Leader Commentary. By Duane M. Cady, MD, Dec. 5, 2005. A message to all physicians from the chair of the AMA Board of Trustees, Duane M. Cady, MD. The threat to Medicare payments, physician activism, public health and the medical community's response to Hurricane Katrina were among the hot issues at the AMA's Interim Meeting Nov. 5-8 in Dallas. At Saturday's opening session, AMA President J. Edward Hill, MD, said the looming Medicare physician payment cuts were a policy blunder that America could ill afford. "I'm urging you to use your imagination and influence to come up with as many new ways as possible to tell our policy-makers that this [issue] is not about doctors," Dr. Hill said. "This is about patients." Congress has only days left to prevent cuts of Medicare physician payments by 4.4% on Jan. 1, 2006. These cuts will be a disaster for patient access to care. Fully 38% of physicians say they will accept fewer new Medicare patients if the first cut goes through. That 4.4% cut alone would make the average Medicare physician payment rate next year less than it was in 2001. Thousands of physicians and patients have contacted Congress in recent weeks to urge that the physician payment cuts be stopped and replaced with an increase that reflects the true cost of practicing medicine. At the AMA Interim Meeting, it was delegates' and alternates' turn to step to the plate. As Dr. Hill said, the need for physician activism has never been more urgent -- and physicians responded. By the time Monday's general session of the house concluded, delegates had made more than 1,700 phone calls to their representatives and senators to demand action. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2005 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
|
Feature articlesHealth reform review The Massachusetts experience Litigation stress Being sued is personal as well as professional Comprehensive coverage
Most-viewedNov. 23 issueAMA meeting: Delegate vote refines AMA stance on system reform Liability premiums stay stable, but insurers warn this might not last Columns and series
From the vault: 5 years agoState tort reform ballot wins set stage for further battles Nov. 22, 2004 
|
SHARE
