The following statement is attributable to:
Bruce A. Scott, M.D.
President, American Medical Association

“The Continuing Resolution utterly fails to address declining reimbursement rates for Medicare, pushing our health system down a path that will have predictable and deleterious results. For the fifth consecutive year, Congress has adjourned and allowed Medicare cuts. What will be the result? Patients struggling to access health care. Physicians closing or selling their private practices while others opt to leave the profession.

“Congress heads home today leaving in place a 2.83 percent cut for doctors. It did not provide a rational permanent, inflation-based update as the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended. It didn’t even offer doctors a Band-Aid in the form of a cut reduction, as the cost of delivering care rises 3.5 percent next year. 

“With this new cut going into effect next year, Medicare payment rates have fallen by 33 percent (PDF) over the past two decades, when adjusted for the costs of running a practice, leaving physicians struggling to figure out how they can continue to provide needed care to their elderly and chronically ill patients. 

“Congress also inexplicably missed a golden opportunity to improve patient care by refusing to include prior authorization reform in the final package – a reform with vast bipartisan support in both chambers. Leaving it on the cutting room floor is an unnecessary gift to the insurance industry at the expense of our patients. Physicians have unique training and expertise when prescribing appropriate care, and we don’t need insurance companies delaying and interfering with our patients’ vital treatments.

"Physicians are frustrated and patients are angry. Obviously, the Medicare payment system is broken. With another cut almost certain to take effect, Congress must enact meaningful long-term reforms. The American Medical Association has put forward many substantive solutions and is eager to work with the new Congress and administration. Patients and physicians are counting on cooperation to reform Medicare and avoid a sixth year of last-minute cuts and a further hollowing out of access to care.”