Advocacy

Alert- Act Now to Avoid Medicare Payment Cuts

October 6, 2011

The next month will be a critical time on Capitol Hill to ensure that Congress identifies a replacement for the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), the formula that determines physician’s Medicare payment rates.  As you know, physician payments are expected to be cut by 29.5% on January 1, 2012 if Congress does not take action. The Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction (JCDR), which is currently the only viable vehicle to address the SGR, is scheduled to release a set of recommendations to Congress on November 23. Your member of Congress needs to hear from you today that the SGR cuts must be addressed this year.

Representative Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) has introduced a letter to JCDR members urging full repeal of the SGR. This letter is now circulating in the House of Representatives and asks all members to "sign-on" in support of protecting patients by making sure SGR repeal is included in the JCDR process.

Please call your Representative through the US Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask that they sign on to Representative Schwartz’s letter.  Even leaving a voicemail message will have an impact.  Sample talking points have been included below.  Please contact your Representative today!


Talking Points:
- The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction must include a permanent solution to eliminate the flawed sustainable growth rate formula in its recommendations to Congress.

- If Congress does not eliminate or provide a fix to the SGR, physician payments will be cut by 29.5% on January 1, 2012, jeopardizing Medicare patient access to their physicians.

- Every year that Congress delays action, the cost of fixing the SGR increases and it becomes increasingly difficult for physicians to continue to provide services to Medicare beneficiaries and grow their practices.

- It is critical that Congress act now to permanently reform the Medicare payment system.

- Please sign on to Representative Schwartz’s letter to the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction regarding replacement of the SGR.

For additional questions regarding the SGR, please contact Stephanie Kutler, Director, Government Affairs at skutler@endo-society.org.