Contact Congressional Leaders and Tell Them to Stop the Medicare Payment Cuts Now |
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The Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors remains a point of contention on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have cautioned that a five-year "fix," currently being discussed in the House, is unlikely to survive Senate scrutiny, and Republicans are demanding that any adjustment in doctor payments must be paid for. The five-year fix "is estimated to cost $88.5 billion. The draft proposal developed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate congressional leadership would provide for statutory updates of 2.2 percent for the remainder of 2010 and an additional 1 percent increase in 2011. Short-term positive updates are no doubt attractive. From 2012 through 2014, physician updates would be determined by two expenditure targets that were proposed by H.R. 3961. In 2015, physician payments would be scheduled to revert back to the current SGR formula with a projected cut of no more than 37 percent. While this cut would result in a 2015 conversion factor in line with that projected under current law, the update baseline will continue to fall during these five years as a result of the underlying SGR formula. By 2015, it is possible that the cost to permanently repeal the SGR could exceed $500 billion. At this time it is estimated that the cost of permanently eliminating the currently scheduled Medicare cuts is approximately $250 billion. For the last several years, Congress has chosen short-term remedies that have resulted in larger future physician payment cuts and made it much more expensive to scrap a formula that Democrats and Republicans have both said should be repealed. Five years ago, the price tag for repealing the SGR was $49 billion. Twice this year, Congress has allowed 30-day extensions to expire, creating turmoil for patients and physicians because a 21 percent cut became the operative policy. On June 1, the current extension will expire again. Contact Congressional members from Northern Ohio now - we have listed their phone and fax numbers below. Urge them to pass legislation to avert a 21 percent cut on June 1 without increasing the cost of a permanent solution. Tell them that temporary fixes enacted by Congress in the past have made future cuts steeper and raised the cost of repealing the SGR. Tell them that in 2005 the scheduled Medicare physician cut was 3.3 percent and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the cost of a 10-year physician payment freeze at $48.6 billion. Today, physicians are facing a 21.3 percent cut and the CBO has estimated the cost of a freeze to be $248 billion over 10 years. Tell them allowing this problem to continue is not the solution. Tell them to stop the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician payments on June 1 without creating a bigger problem in the future. Tell them that as a doctor you want to take care of Medicare patients – but Congress is forcing you to limit the number of Medicare patients we see or to quit taking Medicare patients altogether. Tell them that every year for the past decade; physicians have faced steep payment cuts that make it harder and harder for them to care for their Medicare patients. Congress knows about the problem. They know the faulty formula Medicare uses to pay doctors does not work but they have not fixed the problem. Tell them to please fix Medicare physician payment system now! Northern Ohio Congressional Delegation: Sen. Sherrod Brown Sen. George Voinovich Rep. Dennis Kucinich Rep. Marcia Fudge Rep. Betty Sutton Rep. Steve LaTourette Rep. John Boccieri Rep. Tim Ryan |
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