|
On June 25, 2010, President Obama signed into law the
“Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension
Relief Act of 2010.” This law establishes a 2.2 percent update to the
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) payment rates retroactive from June 1
through November 30, 2010. Physicians may now expect to see a 2.2% update in
their Medicare payments through November 30, 2010.
This temporary fix is not enough. The AMCNO has been
lobbying Congress for many years asking for a permanent fix to this problem
once and for all. Physicians across the region have contacted their
Congressional representatives asking for a permanent fix. Yet every year our
members are forced to face this same issue. At the June AMCNO board meeting
it was determined that one way to keep the pressure on Congress to
permanently fix this problem is to engage Medicare patients in the
discussion. We must get Congress to fix this problem once and for all. The
AMCNO encourages our members to:
-
Tell your Medicare patients to contact Congress and ask
them to repeal the Medicare cuts formula – tell your patients how this
has impacted you and your practice and tell them if this problem
continues that their choice of physician could be at risk. Tell your
Medicare patients that by repealing the SGR formula, Congress can avert
these cuts. On average, legislation to repeal the SGR would prevent cuts
of $18,000 per year to each Ohio physician.
-
Tell your Medicare patients that Ohio, at 15 percent,
has an above-average proportion of Medicare patients and, at 18
practicing physicians per 1,000 beneficiaries, Ohio has a below-average
ratio of physicians to Medicare beneficiaries, even before the cuts take
effect.
-
Tell your Medicare patients that 39 percent of Ohio’s
practicing physicians are over 50, an age at which surveys have shown
many physicians consider reducing their patient care activities. Today,
about one out of four Medicare patients looking for a new primary care
physician are having trouble finding one. Continued cuts in the program
will only make matters worse.
-
Tell your Medicare patients that Congress needs to fix
this problem once and for all so seniors can be assured of continued
access to care and choice of physician.
|