ISMA e-Reports, Special Alert, November 9, 2006

Act now to help stop the Medicare physician pay cuts set to start in January

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officials on Nov. 1 approved a pay cut of 5 percent for Medicare physicians for 2007. A Medicare Trustees report predicts Medicare physician payment rates will be cut about 40 percent by 2015, due to the flawed payment update formula.The AMA determined the average annual cut for Indiana Medicare physicians from 2007-15 will be $31,000 per physician per year. That’s a total of $3.93 billion health care dollars leaving the state.

Your help is needed to have Congress halt the pay cut during the lame-duck session!

For a tool kit from the AMA to help you learn more about the Medicare payment issue and let you e-mail the Indiana Congressional delegation. You may also call the AMA’s toll-free Grassroots Hotline at 1-800-833-6354.