Andrew Gurman and Carl Sirio / Medicare malady
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Congress is stuck in a rut of voting to delay, rather than fix, a problem that threatens access to health care for seniors and military families. Massive, frequently scheduled cuts to physicians caring for seniors and military families have been ailing the Medicare and Tricare programs for more than a decade (Tricare is the health care program serving military members, retirees and their families. Tricare ties its physician payment rates to Medicare).
During this time, Congress has used temporary bandages that only postpone the pain for seniors and military families. It is time for a real cure from Congress -- permanent elimination of the broken formula that schedules these cuts.
The 13 patches passed by Congress in the past decade have made the symptoms of this ongoing issue much worse. These shortsighted actions have dramatically driven up the cost to taxpayers. In 2005, the problem could have been fixed for $48 billion. Now, that cost has grown to $300 billion. That is a massive growth in cost just to extend a policy everyone agrees is broken. If Congress continues to use these short-term patches rather than enacting a permanent solution, the cost will double again in five years to $600 billion.
Congress' delays have also made this problem worse for patients and physicians by increasing the size of future cuts. Medicare and Tricare now face an unbearable 27 percent cut for March 1. An American Medical Association poll found that an overwhelming 94 percent of Americans believe a massive cut like this is a serious problem for seniors. They are right to be concerned. We're already seeing some signs that seniors are having trouble finding Medicare physicians. Twenty-two percent of Medicare patients looking for a new primary care physician had trouble finding one, according to a 2010 report from Congress' Medicare advisory committee. A drastic cut would be devastating for Pennsylvania's nearly 2.4 million Medicare and Tricare patients and the physicians who care for them.
No more short-term patches that increase the size of the problem and the cost to fix it. No more looming cuts like the one scheduled on March 1. It is time to change course and cure this problem once and for all. There is an opportunity right now for Congress to use projected spending that won't be needed as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq wind down to eliminate the flawed formula and protect access to care for military families and seniors -- without adding to the nation's deficit.
Join us in telling Pennsylvania's members of Congress that enough is enough -- they must take action now to eliminate the Medicare physician payment formula and protect seniors, military families, physicians and taxpayers. The cost to do this will never be less than it is today. Learn more about this time-sensitive issue and contact your federal legislators through the AMA's Patients' Action Network at www.patientsactionnetwork.com or by calling 888-434-6200.
First Published February 8, 2012 12:00 am
