- Winter 2006-

AMA Urges Congress to Stop Looming Medicare Payment Cuts

The American Medical Association (AMA) called on Congress recently to act now to end impending Medicare physician payment cuts that will harm patient access to care, and praised Congresswoman Nancy Johnson for championing the need to reform the payment formula in testimony before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health.

“We commend Congresswoman Nancy Johnson for introducing legislation (H.R. 3617) that pays physicians fairly based on practice expenses, and provides appropriate incentives for improving quality of care for Medicare patients,” states AMA Trustee John H. Armstrong, MD. “We are deeply concerned that cuts of 26% over the next six years, which begin January 1, will harm patients’ access to physician care. In order to make further quality improvements, Congress must reform the current Medicare physician payment system.”

“The AMA and its member physicians are committed to quality improvement,” says Dr. Armstrong. “The AMA-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement has developed performance measures endorsed by the National Quality Forum and in use in Medicare demonstration projects.”

“The AMA is pleased that the legislation calls for the use of evidence-based, valid performance measures developed by the medical specialties in a transparent process,” says Dr. Armstrong.

“The AMA appreciates the opportunity to provide further suggestions to strengthen the legislation, and believes that pilot testing prior to full implementation is essential,” adds Dr. Armstrong. “Decisions on public reporting should be deferred until program elements, such as risk-adjustment, are resolved. This will reduce the potential for inaccurate information that could negatively impact access to care for vulnerable populations. Public reporting only benefits patients when the information is accurate, relevant and user-friendly.”

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