CMA Alert: President Expected to Veto Medicare Physician Payment Fix

Medicare Alert: Call Your Member of Congress TODAY!

Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate will vote to override the President’s planned veto of the bill to stop the 15% Medicare physician payment cuts (HR 6331). The President is vetoing HR 6331 because the physician payment fix is funded with Medicare Advantage health plan reforms.

Yesterday the Senate passed HR 6331 by a veto proof margin of 69-30. In a landslide vote the week before, the House passed the bill by a vote of 355-59. While both the House and the Senate have enough votes to override the President’s veto, the health plans are aggressively lobbying the Republicans to switch their votes to avert an override.

CMA Action Requested

Therefore, CMA needs all physicians to call their Members of Congress today (no need to call the Senators) and ask:

— Please vote yes on the HR 6331 veto override.
— Stop the 15% physician payment cuts.
— Help Medicare patients and military families keep their doctors.

Use the AMA Grassroots Hotline (800) 833-6354. Enter your zip code and it will automatically connect you to your Representative.

Background

HR 6331 would reverse the 10.6% payment cut that took effect on July 1, 2008, and stop the 5% cut on January 1, 2009. It would provide a 0.5% update for the rest of 2008 and a 1.1% increase in 2009. The bill would pay for the rate restoration by minor tweeks to the Medicare Advantage program. It would require Private Fee-For-Service plans to have contracts with physicians and meet the same marketing and quality requirements the other health plans meet. It would end duplicative Indirect Medical Education payments to the Medicare Advantage plans that already go to the hospitals.

For California medical groups and physicians who contract with Medicare Advantage plans, HR 6331 does not cut Medicare Advantage in 2008-2009 while restoring nearly $10 billion in funding for all physician services. HR 6331 is good for all California physicians and their patients. If the 15% cut is not stopped, many physicians will be forced to reduce access to Medicare patients.

California HR 6331 Votes

Senators Boxer and Feinstein both voted YES.

All California Members of Congress voted YES except:
NO – Doolittle, Lungren, Herger, Radanovich, Campbell, Royce
NOT VOTING – Nunes, Speier