Congress Fails to Avert Medicare Payment Cuts

Congress failed to fulfill its responsibilities to Medicare patients and their physicians. On Jan. 1, the 2006 Medicare physician payment cut begins, and the AMC/NOMA is deeply concerned that this will harm seniors' access to physician care. There is bipartisan agreement in both the U.S. House and Senate that this cut must be stopped to preserve seniors' access to care, and both the House and Senate have passed legislation to stop the cut. But procedural issues in the Senate prevented final action on this the House failed to reconvene for a second vote on the budget reconciliation bill. Tell your representatives to immediately take up this issue when Congress returns Jan. 18 to halt the payment cuts and retroactively adjust payments. The AMC/NOMA will continue to strenuously advocate for a fair physician payment formula based on practice costs. The American Medical Association (AMA) has sample letters on their web site that physicians may use to write to Congress about this important issue. Go to AMA sample link   or  www.ama-assn.org  and send your letter today.  Physicians are the foundation of Medicare, and Congress needs to act promptly to preserve seniors' access to care.