MAILED TO ALL ILLINOIS REPRESENTATIVES IN THE U.S. HOUSE AND SENATE

February 8, 2006

We, the members of the Illinois State Medical Society Board of Trustees, are writing on behalf of all Illinois doctors and the millions of patients in our care to thank you for halting the scheduled Medicare payment reduction of 4.4 percent. However, we remain extremely disappointed that Congress did not display the necessary leadership to permanently reform the Medicare payment system. Our patients are also your constituents, and many will suffer as a result.

Year after year doctors have advocated to Congress and impressed upon our elected leaders the need to correct the grossly flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula used to calculate Medicare reimbursements for physician services. Year after year we are told that you understand the problem and support fixing the system, yet we continue to be dealt stop gap measures. This year it was a freeze in reimbursement at last year’s rates. In recent years, we have consistently been given a fraction of the MedPAC recommended funding levels necessary to maintain Medicare’s viability and keep pace with inflation. In 2002 Medicare even went in reverse and cut reimbursement rates to physicians by 5.4 percent. If the SGR formula is not replaced, by 2010, projected total cuts in physician Medicare reimbursements will bring reimbursement levels back to 1991 payment rates.

Doctors and Medicare recipients have delivered a clear message to Congress to fix this debacle. Please follow the recommendations of MedPAC and replace the SGR with a system that reflects the actual costs to provide care. Medicare reimbursements for no other provider group are calculated in the manner doctors are reimbursed. Other entities such as hospitals and nursing homes consistently receive positive increases.

Now is the time to take action and avoid future cuts or freezes. We shouldn’t wait for a further crisis limiting access to health care before restoring sensibility to Medicare. Illinois physicians and patients require elimination of the SGR formula and establishment of an update process that reflects real medical cost increases. Anything else is unacceptable.

Sincerely,

Twenty North Michigan Avenue, Suite 700 Chicago, Illinois 60602 Telephone: 312-782-1654 Toll Free: 800-782-ISMS Fax: 312-782-2028