AMA's Patients' Action Network

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Dear Biodun:

Congress is closer than ever to passing a health system reform bill, and we can't lose this opportunity for real health reform. However, members of the AMA's Patients' Action Network and doctors from around the country--in states like Florida, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and Missouri--are all concerned about how this legislation will affect your access to your doctor.

In the U.S. Senate, the health reform bill that's been proposed would use Medicare as a foundation--and that foundation is crumbling because of an archaic payment system already in place. This system is scheduled to cut Medicare physician payments by more than 20 percent Jan. 1, 2010, with repeated annual cuts coming after that.

These annual cuts are a huge problem for patients--and for many families--because they will prevent doctors from taking on new Medicare patients, discourage many from investing in new health technology and make some think about closing their medical practices altogether.

Right now, the Senate is promoting another one-year Band-Aid for this problem, which means that we’ll be dealing with an even bigger problem next year.

Watch doctors from around the country discuss the reality of what this means for you and your family, then call Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) and Sen. Al Franken (D) at (888) 434-6200 or e-mail them here.

Please don't put this off. Your senators need to hear from you now, to protect your family's access to health care today and in the future. Tell your senators that the short-term, Band-Aid approaches used in the past will no longer do. Real health system reform must include Medicare reform.

© AMA, Patient's Action Network | All Rights Reserved

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Posted by BiodunIginla at 12:28 AM Labels: AMA, bbc news. biodun iginla, health care reform biodun iginla 0 comments:

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