Stop the cut! That's the message AAFP government relations staff members have hammered home to federal lawmakers and their staff during the 109th Congress' lame-duck session.
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Academy Presses Congress to Halt Payment Cut
By News Staff
Academy staff met with staff at more than 30 legislative offices between Nov. 8 and Nov. 15 to discuss averting the 5.1 percent Medicare pay cut scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The one-on-one visits cap what began as a concerted pre-election grassroots effort that included an AAFP President's Letter to members, a key contact alert and a Speak Out effort that prompted 1,228 e-mails and letters from Academy members to U.S. representatives and senators.
"This issue is very visible now," said Kevin Burke, director of the AAFP Division of Government Relations. "Congress knows how important this is to physicians." The question remaining is where Congress will find the $10-$15 billion needed to avoid the cut, he added.
The most positive option, according to Burke, is legislation that would provide either no or a small increase in the 2007 update, with quality reporting bonuses. Less appealing are continuing resolutions that would freeze domestic spending at current rates because such measures could effectively implement the pay cut for a specific period; some lawmakers indicate the resolutions could result in a six-month or a one-year freeze, he said.
Academy representatives are contending with two constraints, said Burke:
"This issue is very visible now," said Kevin Burke, director of the AAFP Division of Government Relations. "Congress knows how important this is to physicians." The question remaining is where Congress will find the $10-$15 billion needed to avoid the cut, he added.
The most positive option, according to Burke, is legislation that would provide either no or a small increase in the 2007 update, with quality reporting bonuses. Less appealing are continuing resolutions that would freeze domestic spending at current rates because such measures could effectively implement the pay cut for a specific period; some lawmakers indicate the resolutions could result in a six-month or a one-year freeze, he said.
Academy representatives are contending with two constraints, said Burke:
- Republicans, who will lose control of the legislative agenda next year, have indicated they will let the Democratic-controlled 110th Congress come up with a long-term solution to the physician payment issue, and
- members of Congress literally are leaving their offices -- cleaning their desks, packing boxes and disconnecting computers -- and they are unlikely to receive grassroots communications.
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