Are Medicare Cuts in OUR Best Interest?

The California Medical Association said Friday it’s calling on Congress to “act immediately” to prevent deep Medicare cuts that are slated to take effect Monday, saying the 21 percent cuts to doctors’ reimbursement in the federal program “would hamper senior citizens’ access to care and force physicians to contemplate turning away patients or dropping out of the program altogether.”

However, Congress has adjourned for the weekend, so an immediate reprieve is unlikely. (The House of Representatives has passed a bill blocking the Medicare pay cut for doctors, but the U.S. Senate has not.)

The dance involving Medicare cuts and national and state medical associations’ anguished concerns over them is one that takes place every year in Washington, D.C. But this year, the debate over President Obama’s health reform package and Thursday’s Health Care Summit resulted in the issue getting shunted aside, at least for the moment.

The Sacramento-based CMA said the looming 21 percent cuts to doctors’ Medicare reimbursement -- meant to keep the overall system solvent over the long term -- are “unconscionable.” It joined the American Medical Association, AARP and other groups representing seniors and physicians to attack the pending cuts, and is encouraging its 35,000 physician members in the Golden State to contact U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and their congressional representatives about the issue.

“It’s unconscionable that Congress has not intervened to prevent this coming train wreck,” said Dr. Brennan Cassidy, the state medical association’s president. “Sadly, if these cuts take effect, senior citizens will have a tougher time getting access to a doctor because many physicians will not be able to afford to deliver care under Medicare.”

Proponents of the cuts argue that unless programs like Medicare and Medicaid are limited, they will consume ever-greater portions of the federal budget, threatening its overall solvency.


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