Congress has put the health care for older Americans on Medicare at “grave risk” by not stopping the 21% cut in doctor’s payments for serving the federal program, the American Medical Association warned.

J. James Rohack

The AMA launched a multi-million dollar national advertising campaign, with ads on TV and the radio, and in newpapers, including the New York Times, USAToday and the Wall Street Journal, “encouraging the public to contact their senators and tell them to get back to work and fix Medicare now,” said J. James Rohack, AMA president, in a statement.

“The Senate has turned its back on our nation’s seniors and the physicians who care for them by leaving for vacation and failing to stop a 21% Medicare cut before their self-imposed June 1 deadline,” Rohack said.

Rohack said the cut also affects military families because their health care, through the TRICARE federal health plan, has rates tied to Medicare rates.

About one in five physicians (17%) say they have already been forced to limit the number of Medicare patients in their practice, according to an AMA online survey of about 9,000 of its doctor members. Nearly one-third of primary care physicians (31%) have already been forced to take that action, according to the survey.

Respondents said the top two reasons for these actions were the ongoing threat of future cuts and the fact that Medicare payment rates were already too low.

“Make no mistake: Physicians want to care for seniors and military families, but the chronic instability caused by the threat of future payment cuts has already taken its toll – and a 21% cut will make matters much worse,” Rohack said.

Rohack noted that it is the third time this year Congress has allowed the Medicare deadline to expire without action.

“Each time Congress delays fixing the Medicare physician payment cut makes the problem worse and the price tag higher for the American taxpayer. Enough is enough. The Senate needs to fix the Medicare physician payment system for America’s seniors once and for all,” he said.