A 10.6-percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians took
effect July 1 because Congress failed to stop the reductions. The
effort to block the cuts foundered because a bill that would have
done that - and that the U.S. House of Representatives passed
overwhelmingly - failed in the Senate by just one vote on June 26.
(Note: Medicare officials say they will delay processing July
claims for up to 14 days in hopes that Congress can pass a bill to
avert the cuts retroactive to July 1.)
Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison voted against
the bill, prompting Texas Medical Association President Josie
Williams, MD, to say Texas physicians "are deeply offended" that
they "chose to protect insurance companies' profits instead of
protecting our patients' health."
"Either one of them could have made the difference," Dr.
Williams said. "Instead, they chose to play partisan politics with
our patients' health and voted to
defend unnecessary overpayments
(
PDF
) to certain Medicare Advantage health plans."
Senator Cornyn's vote prompted TEXPAC, TMA's political action
arm, to withdraw its endorsement of his reelection effort.
TEXPAC Board of Directors Chair Manuel Acosta, MD, wrote Senator
Cornyn that TEXPAC is "outraged that you made the decision to
follow the direction of the Bush administration and voted to
protect health insurance companies at the expense of America's
seniors, those with disabilities, and military families."
The payment cuts "will force physicians into an impossible
choice: face financial crisis by continuing to see their Medicare
patients, or protect their practices and cut off those patients,"
Dr. Acosta wrote.
"There is talk and then there is action. We expect our elected
officials to show leadership and do the right thing. Absent that,
TEXPAC has rescinded our endorsement of your candidacy."
The bill that stalled in the Senate, House Resolution 6331,
would:
- Stop the 10.6-percent cut, continue current rates for the
rest of this year, and provide an additional 1.1-percent increase
in 2009;
- Give Congress 18 months to devise a long-term replacement for
the Sustainable Growth Rate financing formula, as we demand in
TMA's
Texas
Medicare Manifesto
;
- Extend the Geographical Practice Cost Index, which protects
physicians practicing in most of Texas; and
- Provide parity for Medicare mental health benefits and
increase coverage for preventive services.
TMA urges physicians to contact Senators Cornyn and Hutchison
now and demand that they make it their No. 1 priority to pass HR
6331 as soon as they return to Washington from the July 4 recess.
See the
TMA
Grassroots Action Center
for some simple talking points and an easy way to contact Senators
Hutchison and Cornyn.
If you want to call them directly, here are the numbers to their
Capitol Hill offices:
And please don't be misled by talk of a new compromise bill. One
of the so-called compromises TMA has heard of would reduce the cost
of this bill by trimming the 1.1-percent increase for physicians in
2009 to
zero
.
TMA also called on elderly patients and Texans with disabilities
to urge Senators Cornyn and Hutchison to switch their votes after
the July 4 recess.
"We all need to let them know how disappointed we are by their
choice of priorities," Dr. Williams said. "We need to let them know
that Medicare patients shouldn't have to worry about whether they
can find a physician to care for them when they are sick. Health
care should be between the patient and his or her doctor, not
health insurance plans or the government. Medicare patients
shouldn't have to worry about who is going to pay for their health
care."
According to recent TMA surveys, 58 percent of Texas physicians
say the July 1 cut would force them to limit the number of new
Medicare patients they can treat. The situation is even worse for
primary care physicians - the front line of health care
for most Medicare patients. Only 38 percent say they would take new
Medicare patients if the cuts go through.
American Medical Association President Nancy H. Nielsen, MD,
said physicians "are outraged that a group of Republican senators
followed the direction of the Bush administration and voted to
protect health insurance companies at the expense of America's
seniors, disabled, and military families.
"These senators leave for their 4th of July picnics knowing that
the most vulnerable Americans are at risk because of the Senate's
inability to act to stop drastic payment cuts for health care
services that are needed by our Medicare and TRICARE patients."
She said the "Senate must return from their recess and make
seniors' health care their top priority. For doctors, this is not a
partisan issue - it's a patient access issue."
AMA is airing television and radio ads urging opponents of HR
6331 to put patients' access to care before insurance profits. The
ads will run through the congressional recess, initially in Texas,
Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and
Wyoming.
The 2008 Medicare Fee Schedule by Geographic Region
We are still hoping that Congress will act quickly and fix the
Medicare fee schedule retroactively, but for those of you who need
to know, below are the fee
schedules
that implement the 10.6 percent cut
effective July 1, 2008.
Action
, July 1, 2008