Statement of Edward Langston, MD
AMA Board Chair

"Next year's 10.1 percent physician payment cut is bad news for America's seniors as 60 percent of physicians say the cut will force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat. Congress must step in to replace the cut with payment increases that keeps up with medical practice costs.


"The U.S. House has already acted, and now Medicare patients and the physicians who care for them are asking the Senate to take similar action. By eliminating $54 billion in excess payments to insurance companies, Congress can preserve seniors' access to health care by funding payment increases for physicians and limiting patient premium increases."

**


Congress Called on to Replace 'Devastating' Cuts in Medicare Reimbursements With Positive Updates By American College of Physicians

'10.1 Percent Cut Will Accelerate Collapse of Primary Care'

(Washington) - The American College of Physicians (ACP) has renewed its call on Congress to replace the 10.1 percent devastating cuts in Medicare reimbursements set to take effect Jan. 1 with at least two years of positive updates that are paid for in a way that does not make the problem worse in future years. The organization of 124,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists and medical students reacted to the final physician fee schedule published late last Thurs. by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

"The cuts will accelerate the collapse of primary care, create access problems and manufacture obstacles to fundamental reform of physician policies," emphasized ACP President David C. Dale, MD, FACP. "It is essential that lawmakers agree on an immediate fix that will provide positive and stable updates, support patient-centered care coordinated by a personal physician, and create the building blocks for long-term reform of a flawed payment system."

More than half of physicians say they will have to limit their acceptance of new Medicare patients if payments are cut as projected in 2008, according to a survey conducted by the American Medical Association, and two-thirds of physicians say they plan to defer purchasing information technology. Physician payment rates are about the same today as they were in 2001, while a typical practice's costs have increased nearly 20 percent during that same time period, it said.

"Prior to its August recess this year, the U.S. House of Representatives took action to ensure our seniors retain access to high-quality health care," Dr. Dale noted. "The legislation replaced projected 15 percent cuts in Medicare payment rates for all physician services over the next two years with positive updates of 0.5 percent. Importantly, it also provided $20 billion in offsets to pay for positive updates instead of using budget gimmicks that, experience has shown, would only make the problem harder to solve in subsequent years."

More Industry Headlines