The Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA) and the Minnesota Medical Association have joined a petition drive to urge Congress to fix what they consider a flawed Medicare payment formula that could drive some doctors out of the system.
Medical associations nationwide had hoped President Obama and Congress would take care of the onerous Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula in their healthcare reforms, but they didn’t. Now, the medical associations are asking patients to join their petition effort to get Congress to act.
The associations have been fighting the SGR — which is part of the formula used to calculate physician payments for taking care of Medicare patients — because that rate has cut physician payments in almost every year in the last decade, according to the Texas Medical Association.
Survey on the Healthcare Financial Landscape Offers a Roadmap for Stakeholders
Zelis highlights how employers, payers, and consumers are integrating digital tools to manage healthcare costs.
The reason for the cuts? The SGR is based on economic output growth, not on the costs of running a medical practice. In April, Congress delayed a 21.3 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements for doctors until June. That cut adds up to an 83 percent reduction in doctor payments since 2001, the Texas Medical Association estimates. “Physicians simply can no longer afford to subsidize Medicare,” the association said.
“In 2001, a physician who received an $1,000 Medicare payment made approximately $410 after taking out operating expenses,” the association said. “Today, with the 21.3 percent cut, that same physician nets only $72. How can Congress expect doctors to stay in the Medicare program?”
That’s the big question. If some doctors leave the Medicare program or stop taking new Medicare patients, that means fewer doctors to take care of the nation’s elderly and disabled.
In Ohio alone, that potential “threatens access to care for Ohio’s nearly 2 million Medicare recipients, including senior citizens and people with disabilities, and more than 150,000 military family members covered by TRICARE,” OSMA said in a written statement.
The Hidden Administrative Tasks Draining Small Practices
Small practices play a critical role in healthcare delivery, but they cannot continue to absorb ever-increasing administrative demands without consequences.
“Congress needs to be aware that continued inaction on this issue will decrease Medicare patient access to physicians’ care,” said Dr. Richard R. Ellison, OSMA president, in the statement. “We need this fixed once and for all.”
The OSMA is inviting Ohio patients to join the grassroots effort to save Medicare by signing an online petition. Minnesota patients can sign the same petition. The goal is to collect 1 million signatures nationwide to let Congress know that temporary SGR fixes are no longer acceptable, the Ohio medical association said.
“We need every physician, every patient, every nurse, every spouse and every healthcare professional in Ohio to join our million-signature petition drive now,” Ellison said.