AMA: Physicians Outraged at Today’s Steep Medicare Cut

U.S. Senate Allows Cut To Begin, Seniors’ Access To Health Care Now At Risk

PRNewswire
3/1/2010

The U.S. Senate’s failure to act before today’s 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut has put seniors at grave risk of reduced access to health care and choice of physician.

“The Senate had over a year to repeal the flawed formula that causes the annual payment cut and instead they abandoned America’s seniors, making them collateral damage to their procedural games,” said AMA President J. James Rohack, M.D. “Physicians are outraged because the cut, combined with the continued instability in the system, will force them to make difficult practice changes including limiting the number of Medicare patients they can treat.”

Physicians from across the nation are in Washington, D.C. this week for the AMA’s National Advocacy Conference and will meet directly with their senators to tell them it is urgent that they permanently repeal the flawed Medicare physician payment formula and replace it with one that reflects the increased cost of caring for patients.

“The AMA is hearing directly from physicians, and seniors should be very concerned about how the Senate’s inaction will impact their ability to see a doctor,” said Dr. Rohack. “Military families are also hurt as TRICARE ties its payment rates to Medicare.”

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