AAFP Statement: Failure to Bring Medicare Bill to Senate Floor is a ‘Serious Blow’

Statement Attributable to:
James King, M.D.
President
American Academy of Family Physicians

The American Academy of Family Physicians is deeply disappointed that the Senate has failed to take up debate on the “Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008” (S. 3101.). This procedural breakdown is a serious blow to the efforts on the part of the physician community to reach a consensus before the disastrous 10.6 percent Medicare physician pay cut, now scheduled to take effect July 1.

That cut will have a domino effect, throwing the more than 44.2 million Medicare patients into confusion over the amount of their copayment for doctors’ appointments and forcing family physicians – who are predominantly small businesses – to cope with dramatically lower revenues to operate their offices at a time of skyrocketing costs of doing business.

We urge both Republicans and Democrats to immediately negotiate compromise legislation that meets the needs of both patients and the physicians who care for them. Only by acting quickly can Congress and the Administration ensure the stability of a health care program on which millions of elderly and disabled patients depend.