Congress Must Act On Health Care Payments
Dear Editor:
Seniors, people with disabilities, military families and their health care providers should take note: There is hope that Congress is finally moving to make important changes to Medicare. For more than a decade, Medicare reimbursements to physicians have been ruled by a formula calling for large annual cuts in payments. Every year, physicians have worried about the viability of their practices; Medicare and Tricare military patients have wondered if their doctors would stop seeing them.
As Congress considers legislation to repeal the current payment formula and develop quality measures of care, the 2,000 physicians of the Worcester District Medical Society, along with the Massachusetts Medical Society, urge U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, to continue to work toward these changes. A new payment formula and improved quality measures must be created to stabilize Medicare well into the future and give patients peace of mind in knowing their doctors will be there for them. At the same time, it must help physicians, particularly those in small offices, to keep their practices viable and open to their patients. Congress has never been closer to fixing a broken system than it is now. It should capture the opportunity and act.
Michael Hirsh, M.D., president, Worcester District Medical Society
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