AMA applauds new Senate bill to stop Medicare physician cuts

In a recent news release, there is effort to eliminate the proposed payment cuts from Medicare. As most know, these cuts have been proposed for the past 2 plus years and each time have been halted with a “band-aid” approach. It is time that a real and fair legislative act is executed.

The AMA welcomed a new bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., this week that would replace 18 months of Medicare payment cuts to physicians with payment updates that better reflect medical practice cost increases.


In three short months, Medicare will cut physician payments by 10.6 percent. Right now, 60 percent of physicians say the cut will force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat. The 18-month timeframe in the Save Medicare Act of 2008 (S. 2785) will inject some stability into the system for seniors as well as physicians forced to make difficult practice decisions because of planned payment cuts. It will also give Congress time to begin working on a long-term solution to the broken payment system without having to take action to stop the cuts twice in one year.

Earlier this week, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission made a recommendation to lawmakers to replace physician payment cuts with updates that reflect medical practice cost increases.

“Senator Stabenow’s bill is an important step toward implementing this recommendation, and we urge Congress to act before the cut begins this July and seniors’ access to care is negatively affected,” said AMA President-elect Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, Ph.D.

Next month, you can address this issue face to face with members of Congress at the AMA National Advocacy Conference, April 1–2. As part of the conference, members of the AMA and AMA Alliance will rally April 2 at Capitol Hill’s Upper Senate Park in support of the bill. Prior to the rally, attendees will hear from insiders about the political climate on Capitol Hill and get the latest on medicine’s legislative priorities.