Contact Ohio’s Senators NOW To Fix the Flawed SGR Medicare Payment System

With a proposal being circulated in the U.S. Senate that would push a looming 21 percent cut in Medicare physician payments to Oct. 1, the AMCNO urges all Northern Ohio physicians to call their senators and insist that they pass legislation to repeal Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula once and for all. Under the Senate proposal, current Medicare physician payment rates would be extended through Sept. 30, delaying for seven months the 21 percent cut scheduled to take effect March 1. This reprieve has been portrayed as a compromise between senators who want to implement a routine one-year payment fix through the end of the year and others who seek another short bridge period to provide still more time for Congress to repeal the SGR formula.

The AMCNO is urging you to contact Ohio Senators Brown and Voinovich and tell them to preserve access to care by permanently fixing the flawed Medicare physician payment formula, known as the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. If no action is taken, Medicare physician payments are scheduled to be cut 21.2 percent on March 1. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed legislation repealing the SGR and needs the Senate to act.

Our Senators need to hear directly from Ohio’s physicians on this issue. Tell Congress to permanently repeal the SGR.

Sen. Sherrod Brown - (202) 224-2315

Sen. George Voinovich - (202) 224-3353