ACR President Addresses SGR "Doc Fix"
June 25, 2010
Dear Members,
As you've no doubt heard by now, last evening the U.S. House of Representatives finally passed the "doc fix" despite Speaker Nancy Pelosi's attempts to use it as a bargaining chip to ensure passage of another, unrelated, piece of legislation. This temporary fix – with a shelf life of a mere six months – was absolutely necessary to reverse the 21 percent pay cut that went into effect June 1.
While this is a hard-won victory, it's but a minor one. The challenge that lies before us—though difficult—is to see a permanent fix implemented, ensuring we can continue to provide quality care for Medicare patients while being fairly and appropriately reimbursed for our services.
The temporary fix simply slows down the inevitable collapse of Medicare and the flawed SGR formula continues to threaten the survival of physicians in practice (private and academic) and, more importantly, jeopardizes the care of our seniors and military service members. After eight years of last-minute temporary fixes, Congress must understand in no uncertain terms that a permanent fix is the only option now.
The ACR will continue to work on this issue tirelessly through our Government Affairs Committee and staff, our lobbyists in Washington, D.C., the annual Advocates for Arthritis fly-in, congressional contacts, and through letters to the editor and Op-Ed submissions in key media outlets. We will also continue to work with other medical societies and patient advocacy organizations to demonstrate the strength of our voice.
It's important that each and every one of you understand, though, that you must take personal action on this issue. It's imperative that you contact your Congressional representatives often – your voice and the voices of your patients are important because you are the constituents. It's vital that you educate your patients about the current situation and ensure they understand how vulnerable their Medicare coverage is. Congress will respond to our patients who seem to have a better understanding of the issue than our legislators. And, you must continue this battle until we are all able to securely treat Medicare patients without the anxiety and fear of a devastating pay cut to our services.
Over the next six months, we must all be committed to increasing our engagement with lawmakers, showing our frustration, and increasing the pressure for Congress to repeal the flawed SGR formula. Our strength comes in numbers - from rheumatologists, health professionals and especially, our patients.
I'm a rheumatologist in private practice in Dallas. Like you, I never dreamed when I entered medicine that I'd be involved in such a critical fight to allow us to sustain our clinics so that we can continue to see our patients and provide quality care. We all are at risk, our practices are at risk, and our patients are at risk. Join me in telling Congress that enough is enough; it is time to remove the Band-Aid and fix the problem once and for all.
Stanley B. Cohen, MD
ACR President
