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Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison last night chose to protect insurance companies’ profits instead of protecting our patients’ health. All Texas physicians should be deeply offended by their decision, and we need to let them know exactly how we feel.
A bill to forestall the looming 10.6-percent cut in physicians’ Medicare payments fell one vote short on the floor of the U.S. Senate last night. Either Senator Hutchison or Senator Cornyn could have made the difference. Instead they chose to play partisan politics with our patients’ health and voted to defend unnecessary overpayments to certain Medicare Advantage health plans.
For months, Senators Cornyn and Hutchison have promised physicians they would not let the cut take place on July 1. Twice in the past two weeks, they’ve voted against bills that would have stopped the cut. Now it is just four days from taking effect.
Please contact both of our senators today. Tell them we expect them to keep their promise. It’s up to them to stop the cut.
House Resolution 6331 flew through the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week. It stalled in the Senate last night. The bill would:
- Stop the cut, continue current rates for the rest of this year, and provide an additional 1.1-percent increase in 2009;
- Give Congress 18 months to devise a long-term replacement for the sustainable growth rate financing formula, as we demand in TMA’s Texas Medicare Manifesto;
- Extend the Geographical Practice Cost Index, which protects physicians practicing in most of Texas; and
- Provide parity for Medicare mental health benefits and increase coverage for preventive services.
See the TMA Grassroots Action Center for some simple talking points and an easy way to contact Senators Hutchison and Cornyn. If you want to call them directly, here are the numbers to their Capitol Hill offices:
- Sen. John Cornyn: (202) 224-2934
- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison: (202) 224-5922
Please don’t pass up this opportunity to hold our senators accountable for their actions.
Sincerely,
Josie R. Williams, MD
President
Texas Medical Association
Talking Points
I am a Texas physician who is deeply offended by your vote against House Resolution 6331. You had your chance. You chose to protect insurance companies’ profits instead of protecting our patients’ health.
HR 6331 would have stopped the 10.6-percent cut in Medicare payments scheduled for July 1. Our elderly patients, Texans with disabilities, and our practices just can’t withstand such a cut.
For months, you have promised physicians they would not let the cut take place on July 1. Twice in the past two weeks, you have voted against bills that would have stopped the cut. Now it is just four days from taking effect. We expect you to keep your promise. It’s up to you to stop the cut.
It’s time that you stopped believing the propaganda about the Medicare Advantage plans. The cuts to Medicare Advantage plans in HR 6331 would simply eliminate a duplicative government payment to teaching hospitals. Even President Bush recommended eliminating the duplicative payment in his budget.
Even with the proposed reductions to Medicare Advantage, the plans still would receive a significant increase next year — far more than physicians have received in total for the past eight years.
I am tired of you playing this constant game of chicken with Texas physicians and our patients. Please put partisan politics aside. Stop the cuts. Fix the broken Medicare finance system. Our Medicare patients need your help today.
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- AMA: Impacts of Medicare Physician Payment Cuts In Texas (PDF)
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- It's the Care That Counts (Texas Medicine, April 2008)
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Last Published: 7/1/2008 Print this page
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