On behalf of Texas physicians, residents, and medical students, we are writing to ask that you do the right thing. Don’t compromise the health care of your enrollees by changing your commercial payment rates based on the likely 2008 negative Medicare update.
As you know, Congress has less than a month to take action to prevent a disastrous cut in physician payments for providing services to Medicare beneficiaries. This cut, as much as 13 percent for physicians in most parts of Texas, bears absolutely no relation to the cost of running a physician practice or providing care to patients. It is based entirely on an arbitrary and seriously flawed formula that we have been urging Congress to change for years.
As damaging as these cuts would be to the Texas health care system, you could make the damage much worse by following suit. We all understand that many commercial health plans model their fee systems after Medicare rates. We respectfully ask you and all commercial plans in Texas to refrain from changing your payment rates keyed to the expected 2008 Medicare update. Adopting those changes would limit all Texans’ access to essential health care services and detract from the overall efficacy of our health care system.
Our organizations strongly encourage you and your corporate colleagues to do the right thing: Please encourage Congress to fix this problem. Don’t follow along with their arbitrary cuts. We hope you will be motivated to serve the interests of patients first and to ensure our scarce resources go to health care and not elsewhere.
Sincerely,
William W. Hinchey, MD
President
Texas Medical Association
Rene Rodriguez, MD
President
Texas Academy of Internal Medicine Services
Linda M. Siy, MD
President
Texas Academy of Family Physicians
David A. Khan, MD
President
Texas Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Society
Dan McCoy, MD
President
Texas Dermatological Society
Preston Harrison Jr., MD
President
Texas Neurological Society
John T. Gill, MD
President
Texas Orthopaedic Association
Aaron K. Calodney, MD
President
Texas Pain Society
Larry Grissom, MD
President
Texas Radiological Society
Delbert L. Chumley, MD, FACP
President
Texas Society of Gastroenterology & Endoscopy
Joseph W. Basler, MD, PhD
President
Texas Urological Society
Barry O'Neal, MD
President
Texas Geriatrics Society
Steven H. Dunn, MD
President
Texas Ophthalmological Association
Jack McCarty, DO, FACOFP
President
Texas Osteopathic Medical
Ernest Buck, MD
President
Texas Pediatric Society
Catherine L. Scholl, MD
President
Texas Society of Anesthesiologists
V.O. Speights Jr., DO
President
Texas Society of Pathologists
George Wendel, MD
President
Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Last Published: 12/14/2007
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