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AMA lobbies against Medicare cuts in three states

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, August 23, 2005

The American Medical Association (AMA) continued its efforts to draw attention to possible effects of Medicare cuts by holding news conferences and running ads in three states last week, according to press releases from the AMA.

The association visited Michigan, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania, meeting with physicians to discuss how the cutting of Medicare physician payments by 26% over the next six years will create access-to-care problems for seniors.

The AMA fears that these cuts, coupled with a rising cost of caring for patients, will cause physicians to stop accepting new Medicare patients.

"Physicians want to serve senior patients, but they cannot afford to accept an unlimited number of new Medicare patients into their practices if Medicare payments do not keep up with the cost of providing care," said AMA Board Chair Duane Cady, MD.

"A national AMA survey showed that 38 percent of physicians will stop taking new Medicare patients if the first of six scheduled payment cuts goes into effect January 1," said Cady. "That is just the tip of the iceberg as the vast majority of cuts are scheduled to come after 2006."

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