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AMA urging support to protect physician payment rates

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, May 31, 2005

The American Medical Association (AMA) is lobbying for support against an announcement that Medicare will cut physician payment rates by 26% from 2006-2011, including a 4.3% cut on January 1, 2006.

The AMA is asking anyone opposed to the announcement made by the Medicare program's trustees to support the Preserving Patient Access to Physicians Act of 2005 (H.R. 2356), which was introduced in the U.S. House on May 12.

The bill would stop the Medicare cuts and set a physician payment increase for 2006 at no less than 2.7%, which is in accordance with the recommendation of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). The bill also would see the current Medicare physician payment update formula replaced with a new formula that increases the update each year, starting in 2007, to reflect changes in the Medicare Economic Index, according to the AMA.

"Physicians need to be free to focus on caring for Medicare patients instead of fighting for fair Medicare payment year after year," says AMA Board Chair J. James Rohack, MD, on the AMA Web site. "This bill provides a permanent solution so physicians can continue to give Medicare patients the care they deserve."

For more information on the AMA's efforts in Washington and to learn how to show your support for the bill, click here

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