‘Doc Fix’ Uncertain

WASHINGTON — Last week the American Medical Association
launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign urging Americans to call
their senators “to help avoid a Medicare meltdown.” Because the
Senate adjourned for its Memorial Day recess without taking action
on the issue, a 21 percent pay cut for physicians became law June 1
that the AMA says will cause physicians to limit their Medicare
practices or leave the program altogether.

The ads appeared in the New York Times, the Wall
Street Journal, USA Today and on television, radio
and in newspapers in 17 states.

On May 28, the House approved legislation (H.R. 4213) to cancel
the cut and instead give the docs a 19-month reimbursement increase
at a cost of about $23 billion. But that version of the ‘doc fix’
is not paid for, and the bill would also bring on a 33 percent pay
cut for physicians in 2012.

This is the third time this year that the Senate has allowed a
Medicare deadline dealing with the physician pay cut to expire.

“The AMA will not sit silent while the Senate fails to fulfill
its obligation to seniors and the baby boomers who begin entering
the program in just six months when the first wave turns 65,” AMA
President James Rohack, MD, said in a statement.