Please check out the following website.
http://capwiz.com/aao/issues/alert/?alertid=8740626&type=CO
The Medicare Trustees now project that Medicare physician payments will fall 37 percent over the next nine years a $60,000 average loss for each U.S. ophthalmologist. The AMA points out that simultaneous to these steep cuts, the government projects physician practice costs will increase 22 percent. A gap has developed over the past five years due to Medicare payments that do not cover increases in medical practice costs. The Academy is already helping to lead a fight for Congressional action, which is critical to future access to physicians for seniors.
September 15, 2006
Congress Must Act Now to Stop the SGR Cut
Advocacy efforts by the Academy, AMA and others on the SGR over the past few weeks are having an impact. With less than 10 legislative days left until Congress leaves Washington for mid-term elections, the chairmen of three health committees, Reps. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, are reaching out to medicine with solutions.
Our leverage is greatest now. We need all ophthalmologists to step up and tell Congress that the SGR needs to be fixed this year. Support for fair updates for physicians was evident in a letter calling for September actionsigned by 265 members of Congress and sent to house leadership just this week!
It is within our power to bring about change by taking the time to tell our story, said Peter J. Whitted, MD, JD, chairman, Congressional Advocacy Committee, who participated in Capitol Hill visits last week. There is no substitute for those of us who practice ophthalmology telling it like it is. We must not abdicate our responsibility.
Call or e-mail your member of Congress today! Tell them not to leave town without stopping the 5 percent cut and providing a positive update for 2007.
http://capwiz.com/aao/issues/alert/?alertid=8740626&type=CO
The Medicare Trustees now project that Medicare physician payments will fall 37 percent over the next nine years a $60,000 average loss for each U.S. ophthalmologist. The AMA points out that simultaneous to these steep cuts, the government projects physician practice costs will increase 22 percent. A gap has developed over the past five years due to Medicare payments that do not cover increases in medical practice costs. The Academy is already helping to lead a fight for Congressional action, which is critical to future access to physicians for seniors.
September 15, 2006
Congress Must Act Now to Stop the SGR Cut
Advocacy efforts by the Academy, AMA and others on the SGR over the past few weeks are having an impact. With less than 10 legislative days left until Congress leaves Washington for mid-term elections, the chairmen of three health committees, Reps. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, are reaching out to medicine with solutions.
Our leverage is greatest now. We need all ophthalmologists to step up and tell Congress that the SGR needs to be fixed this year. Support for fair updates for physicians was evident in a letter calling for September actionsigned by 265 members of Congress and sent to house leadership just this week!
It is within our power to bring about change by taking the time to tell our story, said Peter J. Whitted, MD, JD, chairman, Congressional Advocacy Committee, who participated in Capitol Hill visits last week. There is no substitute for those of us who practice ophthalmology telling it like it is. We must not abdicate our responsibility.
Call or e-mail your member of Congress today! Tell them not to leave town without stopping the 5 percent cut and providing a positive update for 2007.
