Military Officer - September 2006 - (Page 30) washingtonscene sional passage so the people can decide the issue one way or the other. In separate legislative action in late July, the president signed into law H.R. 42, a measure that forbids condominium associations and certain similar groups from making rules that prohibit residents from displaying the U.S. flag. MOAA endorsed that bill and joined its sponsor, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), at a press conference announcing its approval. Francis Scott Key, author of the National anthem, is buried in Bartlett’s district. total of 80 senators joined Kyl and Stabenow in signing the letter. MOAA thinks Congress needs to change the current statutory payment formula, which cuts payments to doctors when the economy worsens regardless of what’s happening to physicians’ actual costs. A recent AMA survey of doctors nationwide indicates that, if Medicare payments were to decline, almost half (45 percent) of physicians would reduce the number of new Medicare patients they accept. Similarly, 43 percent said they would reduce their caseload of TRICARE patients. Many military beneficiaries already face problems finding doctors who will take TRICARE patients, especially in areas where there is not a large military population. This already is affecting many mobilized Guard and Reserve families, most of whom don’t live near military bases. Cutting provider payments would only worsen their health care access problems. MOAA is working with AMA and participating in joint press conferences across the country to highlight the need for a more rational Medicare and TRICARE payment formula that will protect patients’ access to doctors. Last year, a similar effort succeeded in stopping a planned payment cut for 2006, but it only froze this year’s payment rates at 2005 levels. Speaking at a Florida press conference July 18, former MOAA board member Maj. Gen. Robert Lynn, USA-Ret., said, “Medicare physician payment cuts pose a health care threat to more than 9 million military members and their families nationwide. Reducing payment rates even further will have a devastating effect on access to care for thousands of military beneficiaries, who already find it difficult to locate physicians who accept TRICARE. When our men and women in uniform are sent in harm’s way, the last thing they need to worry about is whether their families will be able to find a TRICARE physician.” Medicare Fix Coming? Bipartisan efforts seek doctor payment hike. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) B Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) ipartisan efforts are under way in both the House and Senate to repeal a law that, if not corrected before Congress adjourns this year, will cause a 4.6-percent cut in Medicare and TRICARE payments to doctors, starting in 2007. The current statutory formula is expected to generate even stiffer Medicare payment cuts in future years — as much as a 37-percent reduction by 2015. Since TRICARE payment rates are linked to Medicare’s by law, the same cuts would apply to TRICARE providers. MOAA and the American Medical Association (AMA) think the law must be changed to prevent doctors from reducing the number of Medicare and TRICARE patients they see. In mid-July, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) authored a bipartisan letter to Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate in which they stressed the need to pass legislation this year to increase Medicare and TRICARE payments to doctors. A 30 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2006
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