Take Action on Medicare Payment Cuts This Month!

All physicians, residents and medical students are encouraged to get in touch with their members of Congress who are in their home states this month and tell them to take action before the October adjournment to stop the mandated 5 percent cut and increase Medicare physician payments instead by 2.8% (as recommended by MedPAC).  Click Stop the 2007 Cuts and find a sample letter one can cut & paste and email directly to your congressional representative TODAY!  Doctors will see a 5.1 percent cut in their reimbursement rates for Medicare patients next year, according to proposed federal rules announced Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  Hospitals will gain a 3 percent increase in their reimbursement rates for outpatient care, but they will get the full increase only if they submit data to the government indicating they're following guidelines that improve patient care (see item #3 below).  CMS chief Mark McClellan said the cut in doctors' payments and the call for more quality reporting from hospitals reflect a broken payment system in the United States that can't be sustained.  Doctors have 60 days to submit their comments on the proposed rule changes.  The AMC/NOMA will submit comments on behalf of our membership, and will report on such in future news sections, but our strength is in numbers!  Add your voice to the fight—the AMA hotline can connect you with your representatives’ voice mail by calling 800.833.6354.