California's Physicians and Seniors Urge Congress to Protect Access to Care by Strengthening Medicare

The California Medical Association (CMA) and AARP are calling on the U.S. House of Representatives to pass HR 3961, which would ease the difficulty seniors now face in finding a physician who accepts Medicare. The legislation would repeal Medicare's flawed payment structure, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), and replace it with a stable foundation that would encourage physician participation.

"In many cases, a person's inability to find a doctor who accepts Medicare can result in dire health consequences," said AARP California State Director Tom Porter. "AARP believes that it is critical to reform the way Medicare payments are calculated to ensure that all Medicare patients have access to a physician. HR 3961 provides that needed reform."

Many seniors already report difficulty finding doctors who accept new Medicare patients. Over the past seven years, Congress has created a band-aid solution to the flawed formula that automatically cuts physician payment. This uncertainty has forced some physicians to stop taking Medicare patients.

"If no fix occurs, healthcare reform will be nothing more than an empty promise to our senior citizens, jeopardizing their access to care," said CMA President Brennan Cassidy, MD. "Instead of temporarily overriding the automatic payment cut to physicians, Congress must permanently fix Medicare's foundation and then move forward to build on the system."

With 16 million new Medicare enrollees anticipated in the next six years, maintaining doctor participation and access to care is more important than ever. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on HR 3961 on Thursday, November 19, 2009.

The legislation would institute automatic annual payment updates of approximately 2% for primary care physicians and 1% for specialists. If no permanent fix occurs, the SGR would slash Medicare funding by 40%, forcing many doctors to drop out of the program and hurting seniors' access to care.

"The longer Congress procrastinates, the higher the price tag for American taxpayers and the harder it will be for seniors, the disabled, and military families to find a doctor," Dr. Cassidy said. "Without an SGR fix, many physicians will be forced to make the difficult decision to limit their practices or even to stop participating in the Medicare program altogether."