• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Doctors unite to fight Medicare cuts

Physician Practice Advisor, April 6, 2005

In the wake of Medicare's confirmation that they will cut physician
reimbursement anywhere from 4% to 5% in the year 2006, physicians are organizing a nationwide lobby to repeal the cuts and avert what one physician has called "a devestating effect on access to care."

According to an April 4 story in The New York Times, the American Medical Association (AMA) is encouraging its members to call and e-mail members of Congress, and is organizing a national network of patients through posters in doctors' offices. The AMA is trying to drive home the point that lower payments from Medicare will force many physicians to stop caring for the elderly, disabled, and lower-income patients who use Medicare.

"If payments to doctors are cut significantly over several years," said
Ronald F. Pollack, executive director of the consumer group Families USA,
"beneficiaries could have problems gaining access to physicians, especially in rural areas."

Medicare plans to cut doctors' payments by equal percentage points in each of the next six years, leading to a cumulative reduction in payments of 26% by the year 2011.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive