Urgency Growing to Stop Drastic Medicare Physician Payment Cuts

California has a lot at stake given that Medicare physician payments will be slashed 10 percent in 2008 under current law. With 3.9 million Medicare beneficiaries--the most in the nation--the Golden State could face a serious access-to-care crisis should the cuts take effect.

Under current law, Medicare will drastically slash payments to physicians nearly 40 percent during the next eight years while practice costs rise about 20 percent. That’s why physicians not only in California but also across the country are speaking up to urge federal lawmakers to enact legislation to repeal the flawed Medicare physician payment formula and update payments based on practice cost increases.

The American Medical Association (AMA) and its national medical specialty and state partners, including the California Medical Association, are drawing lawmakers’ attention to the issue. Last month, the AMA testified to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee about this urgent issue, which came on the heels of a recommendation by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) that Congress replace next year’s physician payment cut with an increase based on the cost of providing care.

MedPAC also has found that increasing numbers of Medicare beneficiaries around the country are having trouble finding new primary care and specialist physicians--access problems that will only worsen if the cuts go into effect. The situation would be particularly acute in California, which has a below-average physician-to-population ratio. At 242 practicing physicians per 100,000 patients, the cuts would make it even more difficult for seniors to find doctors to care for them.

Additionally, because the Tricare program for military dependents and retirees ties its rates to Medicare’s, California’s nearly 871,000 Tricare patients also could experience problems finding access to a physician if the cuts take effect.

The cuts also would take a devastating toll on the state’s health care system. California stands to lose $588 million in health care funds because of the projected 10 percent negative update in 2008. Worse, the subsequent years of cuts under current law would swell that figure to $17 billion.

Medicare physician payment reform was a main topic of discussion earlier this year at the AMA National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C., with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle agreeing that a long-term answer is needed to protect access to care for the nation’s seniors.

“It’s past time for Congress to find a permanent solution,” U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., told attendees at the conference. “We have a significant problem, and it’s not going to go away by ignoring it.”

Visit www.ama-assn.org/go/medicarepayment to learn more about the AMA’s efforts to fix the nation’s broken Medicare payment system.

Riders’ Journey Begins Here

This month, Southern California serves as the starting point for a 50-day cycling journey across the United States to promote improvements in health care domestically and around the world.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has signed on as a sponsor of the Ride for World Health, during which a group of cyclists will pedal 3,700 miles. They’ll make stops at academic medical centers to participate in rallies, lectures and community events, in addition to several gatherings organized by student chapters of the AMA. Jeremy A. Lazarus, MD, an avid cyclist who is vice speaker of the AMA House of Delegates, will be on hand at several of the events to spread the word about the AMA’s initiatives to expand health coverage for the nearly 47 million uninsured patients in the United States.

The cyclists started pedaling in San Diego on March 29, heading toward Los Angeles. From there, they’ll head toward their destination in Washington, D.C., arriving in late May. Along the way, many more riders will join them for all or part of the journey. The ride will raise awareness--and funds--for the Global Health Access Program, a consortium of volunteers who work to support for local indigenous organizations abroad, and the Pendulum Project, a humanitarian organization that benefits orphans and vulnerable children in parts of the world that are severely affected by HIV/AIDS.

Founded in 2004 by a group of fourth-year medical students at Ohio State University, the ride has grown in popularity and is held during April and May so that students with a break in clinical rotations can participate. Visit www.rideforworldhealth.org to learn more.