Urge Senators to Provide Medicare Payment Boost for Next Two Years

This is an urgent call to action -- thank you in advance for responding!

We need you to contact your U.S. senators and ask them to support legislation to provide physicians with a positive Medicare payment update for at least two years. You should do this before Sept. 30.

Here's the background: The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to continue the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, for children in lower-income families. The bill contains additional provisions that would provide physicians with a Medicare payment increase (rather than the pending 15 percent decrease) for the next two years. It also would revamp the payment formula to favor primary care and preventive health services. And it would include an expansion of Medicare's medical home demonstration grant program.

However, the Senate’s version contains none of these additional provisions.

Since the bills could be reconciled and sent to President Bush before SCHIP expires on Sept. 30, we need you to act now. Physicians must urge the Senate not to wait until the end of 2007 to adjust the Medicare payment rate for a single year. These end-of-the-year, patched-together measures are disruptive, and they undermine the confidence of physicians and patients in the Medicare program. Congress should take the opportunity to pass a final children’s health insurance bill by Sept. 30 that provides physicians with a multi-year, positive Medicare payment rate.

If Congress fails to act, physicians face a 10 percent reduction in the Medicare payment rate beginning in 2008, and an additional 5 percent reduction in 2009. Contact your senators today by using Speak Out. Let them know they must not let that happen.