Medicare Payment Cuts

Once again, Medicare is proposing to cut physician fees. This time the plan is a draconian 30% reduction in fees, 23% on December 1 and 7% more on January 1, 2011. This is conveniently AFTER the midterm election! Estimates from the government commision which calculates these fee changes are that the fees will decrease by 40% over the next several years. Many physicians have already announced that they will no longer accept new Medicare patients and some have announced plans to withdraw from Medicare entirely! The Mayo Clinic, which President Obama cites as the shining example of efficient, cost-effective care, has reported that they lost $846 million on Medicare patients last year and has announced that they are quitting Medicare, beginning with one of their Arizona sites. We do not want to do this. But we need your help. Read on.

Over the last 10 years, the Medicare fees have either remained unchanged, or increased by 1% or less each year. One year there was a 4.5% decrease. Overall, over the last decade, physicians have seen significant reductions in our fees when inflation is added to the calculation. This can not continue!

Medicare fees are the basis on which most other insurance companies set their rates. If Medicare cuts their fees, the commercial insurers are likely to follow suit. This would be devastating to the ability of physicians, especially primary care physicians like us, to continue to care for ALL patients, though the impact would first be felt by Medicare patients.

What Can You Do? Whatever your feelings about the various Health Care Reform bills making their way through Congress, we ask that you contact your federal elected officials and urge them to prevent these cuts, scheduled to begin to take effect December 1, 2010. You can do this with a single email from the AMA website. Simply fill in your zip code under Elected Officials and click GO. (If your zip code is split across congressional districts, you will be able to enter your zip+4 or your address on the next page to find your congress(wo)man.) You can create an email to your representative, your senators, and President Obama with a single click. You can also review your representatives' track record on bills relevant to patients and physicians.

If you would like to contact your representatives individually, use the chart below: