Congress, a lame duck and Medicare

Congress, a lame duck and Medicare
Congress, a lame duck and Medicare Congress, a lame duck and Medicare sounds like a bad opening to an even worse joke. Unfortunately, Congress’ lack of action on the Medicare physician payment rate is no laughing matter to the thousands of seniors whose access to health care will be jeopardized by the cuts that go into effect Jan. 1, 2007. As you know, these Medicare cuts will affect your doctor’s ability to treat Medicare patients – putting your, or your family’s, access to health care at risk. The American Medical Association is disappointed that Congress left without passing legislation to prevent the 5 percent cut from going into effect, but that doesn’t mean we’ve given up. Eighty United States senators and 265 representatives called on their congressional leaders to stop the cuts. It is critical when Congress returns in November for the lame duck session that these members of Congress take action to stop the Medicare cuts and preserve seniors’ access to care. So what can you do between now and November? There are a couple of simple things: Attend a local candidate forum or debate and ask the candidates about the Medicare physician payment cuts. Be respectful, be thoughtful and make it personal. For example, "There has been a lot of news lately about Medicare cuts, and how doctors may not be able to see as many Medicare patients as they used to. I’m concerned about my family’s access to health care and I’m curious about what you plan to do about this when you return to Washington." ' Call Senator , Senator and Representative . Use the American Medical Association’s Patients’ Action Network’s toll–free hotline at (888) 434–6200 and urge them to take action to stop the cuts in November. E–mail your members of Congress and add your personal story in your e–mail. For more information about the issue, please go to the Patients’ Action Network. Patient e-mail to Congress:http take action at the below url http://www.patientsactionnetwork.com/content_tp_medicare.aspx http://www.patientsactionnetwork.com/content_joinnow.aspx Dear : I’m very disappointed you were unable to stop the Medicare physician payment cuts before you left to go home and campaign. Millions of baby boomers are about to retire and it makes no sense why these cuts would be allowed to go into effect. As you should know by now, an American Medical Association survey discovered that 45 percent of doctors will stop accepting or will decrease the number of new Medicare patients they accept. Please take action to stop these cuts and preserve my family’s access to health care when you return in November. Time is running out for you to act. Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Sincerely,

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