With less than two months until deep cuts in Medicare reimbursements to physicians begin on Jan. 1, the AMA launched its year-end campaign to gain immediate congressional action to stop the cuts at its semi-annual policy-making meeting today.

"As physicians from across the nation meet this week to set the course for the future of medicine, our focus is on stopping Medicare cuts that will harm seniors' access to health care," said AMA Board Chair Cecil Wilson, MD

With approximately 3,000 attendees at the AMA meeting, physicians are contacting their members of Congress from the meeting to let them know how important this issue is to them and their patients, and are signing an open letter to patients that will serve as the basis for an AMA ad published this week in the Washington Post and USA Today.


"Congress returns to Washington today for its lame-duck session, and we urge lawmakers to make preserving seniors' ability to get in and see the doctor a priority," said Dr. Wilson. "Congress can do this by halting the 2007 Medicare physician payment cut and instead ensure a payment update that reflects increases in the costs of caring for patients," said Dr. Wilson.

The urgent need for Congress to act is heightened by additional payment cuts from other Medicare payment policy changes. While all physicians face a 5 percent payment cut next year, nearly half of physicians will face even larger cuts of 6 to 20 percent making it extremely difficult for physicians to continue practicing medicine as usual.

"If Congress does not act, we fear that physicians will be forced to make difficult decisions: Nearly half of physicians say Medicare cuts will force them to decrease or stop taking new Medicare patients," said Dr. Wilson. "Current Medicare payments in 2006 are about the same as they were in 2001, and nine years of cuts to physicians totaling about 40 percent will have a severe impact on seniors ability to get health care."

The AMA Board of Trustees is issuing a report at the meeting on AMA activities to raise awareness of the cuts impact on seniors and outline next steps. The report calls on Congress to stop the 2007 payment cut, provide a positive payment update to reflect increases in medical practice costs, and include provisions to facilitate a long-term solution to the current flawed physician payment system.

"Eighty Senators and 265 Representatives have called on Congress to take action in this session of Congress to stop the cuts, and Congress" own advisory committee on Medicare has recommended tying Medicare payments to practice costs," said Dr. Wilson. "This week at the AMA meeting, physicians nationwide speak in one voice to ask Congress to act now before time runs out for seniors and the physicians who care for them."

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