Medical Oncology Association of
Southern California
P.O. Box 161
Upland, CA 91785
Phone: (909) 985-9061
Fax: (909) 985-8581
email: moasc@moasc.org
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MOASC would like to recognize and thank the following sponsors for their continued support of MOASC:
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CMA Asks For Help To Stop Physician Fee Schedule Cuts
The CMA has sent out a key contact ALERT asking all physicians to contact their Members of Congress and Senators to stop the Medicare payment cuts before they adjourn in a few weeks.
Congress will adjourn in a month and they have yet to act to stop the 4.4% Medicare reimbursement rate cut set for January 1, 2006. CMA needs all physicians to call your Members of Congress NOW!
Even if you called and met with your Representatives earlier in the year, CALL AGAIN.
Congress is understandably focused on the hurricane relief efforts. Physicians are doing their part to help. But physicians need a Medicare payment fix before the drastic cuts start on January 1st. Every California physician must contact their Representatives to motivate them to act.
Ask Your Member of Congress and Senators to:
- STOP the Medicare PHYSICIAN payment cuts. These cuts threaten access to doctors.
1. From 2006-2011, Medicare will slash physician payments by 26%.
2. Seniors in California are already having difficulty getting appointments and finding a doctor. These cuts will make the problem worse.
3. A CMA survey this year found that 60% of physicians would stop taking new Medicare patients if the rate cuts take effect. 40% said they would be forced out of the Medicare program. 10% wrote-in that they would be forced to quit medical practice entirely.
- Scrap the current SGR Medicare reimbursement formula, which is based on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and replace it with the Medicare Economic Index (MEI) which is an index based on medical practice costs.
1. All other providers in the Medicare program (hospitals, nursing homes, others) are reimbursed according to the MEI. Physicians should be too.
2. If the projected cuts are not stopped, payments will not keep pace with costs. Medicare rates will fall 26%, while physician practice costs rise 15% over five years.
3. Health care funding in California is already among the lowest in the Nation. Physicians have absorbed sharp cuts over recent years and they cannot sustain additional cuts. Private rates rank 30% below the national average, Medi-Cal rates rank last, and we have the highest rates of uninsured.
Take Action Today!
1. Use the AMA's toll-free Grassroots Hotline at 1-800-833-6354 to reach your member of Congress and Senators.
2. Post CMA's "Save Medicare" Poster in Your Office. You can download it at http://www.calphys.org/html/save_medicare_posters.htm.
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Position: Medical Director, Oncology, New York , NY
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