Responding to strong pressure from CMA, AMA, and seniors, Congress passed and the President signed HR 4691, legislation stopping the 21 percent cut to Medicare payment rates to physicians through March 31. Because Medicare contractors were instructed to hold claims for 10 days, physicians are not expected to see any cuts in Medicare reimbursements for any services provided in the first three months of 2010.

A delegation of CMA physician leaders from around the state of California went to Washington, D.C., last week to state the concerns of seniors, veterans, and the physicians who care for them regarding the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) cuts. Even without the cuts, Medicare rates have been stagnant for the better part of a decade, failing to keep up with inflation, much less the skyrocketing costs of providing care in California. The cuts would have made it impossible for many physicians to keep their doors open to seniors and veterans under Medicare and Tricare, even forcing some doctors to shutter their practices completely.

Congress has said that it is passing this temporary fix in order to keep alive the possibility of passing a more permanent and lasting fix to the SGR formula as part of health reform. CMA strongly supports a permanent repeal of the SGR.

The effort to stop these devastating cuts is a reminder of the importance of organized medicine to the lives and practices of California physicians and the patients you care for. The victory is only temporary, but it is a victory nonetheless. CMA will continue to fight on this issue on behalf of the physicians and patients of this state. We cannot ensure physicians will be there to care for seniors and veterans until we permanently repeal the SGR formula.

To help us in this effort CMA is asking physicians to send us their personal stories about how the Medicare cuts will impact their practices and how their offices will handle the cuts. If you have already made changes because of the uncertainty in the system this information would be helpful. We’ll share your stories with Members of Congress and the press to highlight the impact of these cuts on real physicians and their patients. E-mail your stories to memberservice@cmanet.org.

Contact: Elizabeth McNeil, 415/882-3376 or emcneil@cmanet.org.