MOAA, AMA Partner Against Medicare Cuts

On July 18th, the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) joined the American Medical Association (AMA) and other groups at a Tampa, Florida, press conference to denounce a planned 4.7 percent cut in Medicare physician reimbursement rates. MOAA representative, retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Lynn, said, “Medicare physician payment cuts pose a health care threat to more than nine million military members and their families nationwide. Reducing payment rates even further will have a devastating effect on access to care for thousands of military beneficiaries who already find it difficult to locate physicians who accept Tricare. …” An AMA survey of providers in early 2006 indicated that if payment cuts begin in 2007, 45 percent of physicians plan to either stop accepting or decrease the number of new Medicare patients and 43 percent will either stop accepting or decrease the number of new Tricare patients.