Congress must stop Medicare ‘Groundhog Day’

Feb. 2 may have been Groundhog Day, but for America’s physicians, Medicare “Groundhog Day” comes around several times a year.

For a decade, physicians, patients and Congress have engaged in a perpetual cycle of announced cuts, followed by urgent calls to stop the cuts, resulting in an emergency short-term fix.

Over and over, round and round.

In the coming weeks, Congress must consider Medicare physician payment in legislation that could determine whether many family physicians can remain in business. Many family practices are small businesses and employers, yet this pressing issue was not even mentioned in President Obama’s State of the Union address.

The 20-member Conference Committee on the Payroll Tax Extension will decide whether to prevent the 27.4 percent reduction in Medicare physician payment set for March 1.

Their final decision will resonate beyond Medicare, as those pay reductions could set off a cascade of cuts by private insurers who tie their physician payment to Medicare rates, as well as state Medicaid rates.

Cuts this drastic threaten to push more than one in 10 family physician practices out of business. Fewer family practices means less access to care for all patients, of all ages.

We need permanent reform. We can end this cycle of threatened cuts and temporary fixes. All members of Congress should urge the conference committee to propose a stable Medicare physician payment system.

And then Congress must finish the job and replace the flawed Medicare payment formula with one that accurately reflects the cost of providing care and increases payment for primary care services that are currently provided, but not paid.

We need a system that allows doctors’ offices to remain open and meet their patients’ health care needs.

Note to readers – Michael P. Temporal, M.D., is president of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians.