U.S. HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES

Once again Congress has failed to permanently repeal the Medicare physician payment formula that will cause a drastic 23 percent payment cut to doctors who care for Medicare and TRICARE patients. These cuts leave access to health care for seniors, disabled and military families hanging in the balance.

The time to act is now. This vicious cycle of short-term delays that increase the size of the cut and the cost of reform for American taxpayers must come to an end. Make your voice heard.

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The Medicare patch Congress passed in June is only a temporary reprieve for the seniors and baby boomers who rely on the promise of Medicare. In December, the Medicare cut will be a whopping 23 percent, increasing to nearly 30 percent in January.

We need a long-term solution to this annual problem, so you will no longer need to apply short-term Band-Aid fixes to stop impending cuts that get worse year after year.

Seniors and the disabled who rely on Medicare, and military families who rely on TRICARE, expect access to health care and choice of doctors. Without repeal of the underlying formula that projects steep payment cuts, that access and choice of doctors are repeatedly put at risk.

In fact, seniors are already experiencing access to care problems. About one in four Medicare patients looking for a new primary care doctor are having trouble finding one. About one in five physicians are already limiting the number of Medicare patients they treat because of the instability and uncertainty of Medicare payment.

An overwhelming majority of Congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — are on record stating that the Medicare physician payment formula is flawed and should be repealed.

Delaying the problem is not a solution. Congress must replace this broken system before more damage is done and cannot be reversed.

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