During the AMA National Advocacy Conference this week, Oklahoma attendees, along with OSMA Federal Lobbyist John Montgomery, carried the OSMA’s federal legislative agenda to the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation and their health aids during Capitol Hill visits.

On Tuesday March 2nd and Wednesday March 3rd the physician contingency made “House Calls” with all members of the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation.  The top priority was asking for their support to stop the 21.2 percent physician payment cut which was scheduled for 2010.   The physician contingency also reiterated opposition to further short-term patches that serve to make future cuts more severe and reform even more costly and asked them to permanently replace the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula with a new update formula based on medical practice cost increases. 

Because Medicare and TRICARE patients already face problems in getting physician care, the group expressed that the problem will get worse without permanent repeals.  Oklahoma has just 14 practicing physicians per 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries. Approximately 46 percent of Oklahoma’s practicing physicians are over 50, an age at which surveys have shown many physicians consider reducing their patient care activities. SGR repeal would prevent a loss of $150 million a year for the care of elderly and disabled patients in Oklahoma. On average, legislation to repeal the SGR would prevent cuts of $19,000 per year to each Oklahoma physician.

On Tuesday, action on the Medicare physician payment cuts was postponed until April 1st.   Included in this newsletter is a letter sent to members of the Senate this week from AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, urging the Senate to use the recent 31-day reprieve to develop a legislative pathway to permanently repeal the SGR formula.

For additional information on OSMA Federal Legislative agenda, please contact Kathy Musson at (800) 522-9452 or Musson@okmed.org or visit the OSMA website at www.okmed.org.