An American Medical Association poll found 94 percent of Americans are concerned about the 23 percent Medicare fee cut for physicians that would go into effect on Dec. 1 unless Congress stops it, according to an AMA release.
The association is asking Congress to pass a 13-month temporary fee fix with a 1 percent pay increase, which would give lawmakers time to plan a repeal of the sustainable growth rate formula behind the automatic fee cuts.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also endorsed the 13-month fee fix, saying the "single biggest step" Congress can take to strengthen Medicare would be to prevent the cuts. "I hope that Congress will act quickly to pass it, so that our doctors and seniors can have some peace of mind while we work on a long-term fix," she said.
The current Dec. 1 deadline was set by Congress in June, when it passed a six-month fee fix. On Jan. 1 the fee cut would rise to 25 percent. Congress imposed the automatic SGR cut in 1997 as a way to slow Medicare spending. The amount of the fee cut has accumulated over the years, but it has never been implemented except for short periods when Congress was slow to respond.
Early 2010 was a particularly rocky time for the fee cuts. Congress, absorbed with healthcare reform and its loss of a filibuster-proof Democratic majority, passed fee fixes in as little time as one month and allowed a fee cut to be implemented for short periods.
Read the AMA release on the Medicare fee cut.
Read more coverage of the Medicare fee:
- AMA Leader: Failure to Avert Looming Fee Cut Would be 'Catastrophe'
- AMA Wants New Federal Panel to Propose Permanent Fee Fix to Congress
- GOP Victory Might Prompt Longer-Term Physician Fee Fix
The association is asking Congress to pass a 13-month temporary fee fix with a 1 percent pay increase, which would give lawmakers time to plan a repeal of the sustainable growth rate formula behind the automatic fee cuts.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also endorsed the 13-month fee fix, saying the "single biggest step" Congress can take to strengthen Medicare would be to prevent the cuts. "I hope that Congress will act quickly to pass it, so that our doctors and seniors can have some peace of mind while we work on a long-term fix," she said.
The current Dec. 1 deadline was set by Congress in June, when it passed a six-month fee fix. On Jan. 1 the fee cut would rise to 25 percent. Congress imposed the automatic SGR cut in 1997 as a way to slow Medicare spending. The amount of the fee cut has accumulated over the years, but it has never been implemented except for short periods when Congress was slow to respond.
Early 2010 was a particularly rocky time for the fee cuts. Congress, absorbed with healthcare reform and its loss of a filibuster-proof Democratic majority, passed fee fixes in as little time as one month and allowed a fee cut to be implemented for short periods.
Read the AMA release on the Medicare fee cut.
Read more coverage of the Medicare fee:
- AMA Leader: Failure to Avert Looming Fee Cut Would be 'Catastrophe'
- AMA Wants New Federal Panel to Propose Permanent Fee Fix to Congress
- GOP Victory Might Prompt Longer-Term Physician Fee Fix