The American Medical Association, which lobbied hard for the $247
billion health care bill, released the following statement in
reaction to the
failed cloture vote. It's unclear how this will affect their
overall support for health care legislation, but it's worth
noting that the statement does emphasize that,
"Permanent repeal of
the Medicare physician payment formula is essential to
comprehensive health system
reform."
Here's the full statement, attributed to AMA President
J. James
Rohack:
“The AMA is deeply
disappointed that the Senate today blocked consideration of S.
1776, legislation to preserve access to health care
for America’s
seniors, baby boomers and military families. Senator Stabenow
is a long-time champion for patients and physicians, and the
AMA, AARP and MOAA strongly supported her bill that would have
laid the foundation to permanently fix the Medicare physician
payment formula and keep Medicare strong as millions of baby
boomers enter the program in just two
years.
“As we work to
improve the health system, permanent repeal of the payment
formula is essential to ensuring the security and stability of
Medicare. On January first, Medicare physician payments are
scheduled to be cut by 21 percent, with more cuts in years to
come. Nearly 90 percent of people age 50 and older are
concerned that the current Medicare physician payment formula
threatens their access to
care.
“While short-term
fixes have temporarily averted widespread access problems, they
have also grown the size of the problem – and the cost of
reform. The AMA is committed to fixing the Medicare payment
problem once and for all for seniors, baby boomers and the
physicians who care for
them.
“There is widespread
agreement among Republicans and Democrats that the formula is
broken and needs to be repealed. Congress created the Medicare
physician payment system, and Congress needs to fix this
problem once and for all to fulfill its obligation to seniors,
baby boomers and military families.
Permanent repeal of the Medicare physician payment formula is
essential to comprehensive health system
reform.”
