Dr. Cohen is president of the ACR. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected].
Reference
The Next Six Months Are Critical to Repealing SGR
This year has proven to be a frustrating year for all of us. We have repeatedly faced the prospect of a steep 21 percent cut to our Medicare payments, and have been anxiously waiting for Congress to take action. Although we finally received a temporary fix, our real work lies before us.
The Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula has been flawed from its inception, but Congress has repeatedly placed temporary patches on the problem and ignored the need for a permanent solution. The price tag to implement a permanent fix has grown to over $210 billion and will continue to rapidly increase. The future of Medicare is at risk. This approach cannot continue.
The ACR has been actively engaged in advocacy efforts for several years, urging Congress to permanently repeal the flawed formula. For several years this has been our top legislative priority during the annual Advocates for Arthritis fly-in in Washington D.C. ACR and ARHP members have been encouraged repeatedly to reach out to their respective members of Congress to ask for a permanent fix. That work will continue.
We have developed Medicare posters and fliers for your offices to help you educate and include your patients in our efforts. We have sent, and will continue to send, independent and coalition letters to Congressional leadership informing them that this “kick-the-can” approach to the SGR is unsustainable. We have submitted, and will continue to submit, articles to major media outlets. Patient organizations will continue to be urged to get involved to ensure that seniors maintain access to their physicians.
As your professional organization, the ACR is doing all that it can, but it is through the grassroots efforts—all rheumatologists, all physicians, all health professionals, and especially all of our patients—that must individually and collectively step up, take action, and demonstrate to Congress that this issue is real and it must be addressed now. Mobilizing millions to make phone calls, write personalized letters, and meet with Congressional members is what is absolutely essential to making a difference.
Rheumatology is a small subspecialty, but we see millions of patients. The ACR is committed to working with the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, and other medical specialties, as well as patient organizations, to mobilize the masses to ensure that by November 30, Congress will pass a permanent repeal to the SGR and Medicare patients will be comforted knowing they are no longer at risk of losing their physicians.
