The housing crisis, gas prices, and unemployment aren't the only things keeping Americans up at night. A new poll shows that folks are also worried about Medicare cuts and the impact on seniors.

The American Medical Association has conducted a comprehensive survey that reveals that eight out of 10 Americans are concerned about access to care for seniors and baby boomers because of government cuts to physicians caring for Medicare patients.

On July 1, Medicare payments to physicians will be cut 10.6 percent, and over the next decade the cuts will grow to about 40 percent while medical practice costs increase 20 percent, AMA reports.
"Cutting Medicare physician payments 41 percent over nine years while practice costs increase is penny-wise and pound foolish," said Edward Langston, MD, AMA Board Chair. "Trying to save Medicare money by slashing physician payments will ruin the physician foundation of Medicare for current and future generations of seniors...the outlook for Medicare patients' access to care is grim."

The doctors group found that 60 percent of physicians say this year's cut alone will force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat. Already 30 percent of Medicare patients looking for a new primary care physician are having trouble finding one, and the cuts will make access woes much worse.

Add to that the demographic tsunami of aging baby boomers: People 65+ represented 12.4% of the population in 2000 but are expected to grow to 20% of the population by 2030. The first wave of baby boomers will be eligible for Medicare in three years when they turn 65.

"As physicians, we are terribly concerned about how these Medicare cuts will impact our senior patients," said AMA Board Member William A. Hazel, MD. "Seniors and boomers are concerned too, our new poll shows that 88 percent of current Medicare patients are worried about how the cuts will impact their access to health care."

Military families are also at risk since the government will cut payments to physicians caring for military families in the Tricare program.

Action by the U.S. Congress is the only cure for the cuts, and nearly three-quarters of Americans polled believe Congress should stop the cuts so that physicians can continue to care for Medicare patients. The Save Medicare Act of 2008 (S. 2785), which would replace 18 months of cuts that begin in July with payment increases that better reflect medical practice costs, was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate.

"Congress has only a short window of time to act as the first Medicare cut begins in three months," said Dr. Hazel. "Physicians and now patients have spoken: Congress should stop the cuts to preserve seniors' access to care."

The AMA has created a Web site so the public can learn about the issue and take action:
http://www.patientsactionnetwork.org/index.aspx

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[Note on methodology: A telephone survey of 1,006 adults 18 years of age and older living in the continental United States was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for the American Medical Association (AMA) from February 22-25, 2008. The margin of error is +/-3%.]

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