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Help stop Indiana physicians from losing $260 million
A 10 percent cut to Medicare physician payments scheduled for January 2008 was averted, but that delay runs out in five months!
The upcoming President's Day Congressional Recess (Feb. 15-25) offers a critical opportunity to contact Indiana representatives and senators. While you are urged to talk with any member of Congress about this issue, it's particularly important to reach Indiana's senators, since greater obstacles to passing Medicare legislation exist in the Senate. Phone numbers for Senators Lugar and Bayh appear below.
Please impress upon them the importance of meeting Congress's self-imposed deadline of July 1, 2008, for preventing cuts to Medicare. Those scheduled cuts would amount to $260 million for physicians in our state, endangering access to care for seniors throughout Indiana.
Refer to advocacy resources from the AMA to help you discuss the situation. You'll find a map showing the payment cuts by state, talking points, a fact sheet about the pay formula, a sample letter for e-mailing, and a graph showing how practice costs have risen at the same time as Medicare pay cuts.
Please tell the senators and representatives Congress needs to:
- Replace looming Medicare physician payment cuts with 18 months of positive updates that reflect practice cost increases
- Pave the way for permanent replacement of the defective formula currently used to determine physician reimbursement under Medicare
Use the contact information below to reach the senators in the next week, while they are home on recess. Find contact information for representatives>>
Senator Richard Lugar (R)
Phone numbers:
(317) 226-5555 (Indianapolis)
(812) 465-6313 (Evansville)
(260) 422-1505 (Ft. Wayne)
(202) 224-4814 (Washington)
e-mail: senator_lugar@lugar.senate.gov
Senator Evan Bayh (D)
Phone numbers:
(317) 554-0750 (Indianapolis)
(812) 465-6500 (Evansville)
(219) 548-8035 (Valparaiso)
(260) 426-3151 (Ft. Wayne)
(219) 852-2763 (Hammond)
(202) 224-5623 (Washington)
e-mail via the Senator's Web site only: bayh.senate.gov/WebMail1.htm
Local town hall meetings also will offer opportunities to discuss this issue. The ISMA has learned of several meetings scheduled with ...
Rep. Joe Donnelly, District 2:
- Tuesday, Feb. 19, 10 a.m., Martin's Supermarket, 4401 Western Avenue, South Bend
- Wednesday, Feb. 20, 10 a.m., Martin's Supermarket, 555 East Jackson Street, Elkhart
Rep. Mike Pence, District 6:
- Wednesday, Feb.20, 2:30-3:30 p.m., City Hall, Hartford City
- Friday, Feb. 22, 1:30-2:30 p.m., Community Ed Coalition Studios,
Connersville
The ISMA will post details on other meeting opportunities around the state as they become available. Continue to check this site regularly for new information. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.
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