Advocacy in Action | TeamHealth's Legislative Action Center

Military Officers Association of America(MOAA) Joins Efforts to Halt Medicare Cuts

MOAA's Director of government relations, Colonel Steve Strobridge (USAF-Ret), joined four American Medical Association leaders in speaking at a Washington press conference on Sept. 13 to urge Congress to act now to reverse the 5.1% cut in Medicare and TRICARE payments to doctors scheduled to take effect in January.

With Congress due to recess at the end of this month, time is running out to repeal the law that requires the cuts.

The AMA leaders said that, if these cuts go into effect, thousands of doctors will be forced to stop taking Medicare and TRICARE patients rather than operating their offices at a loss. Medicare and TRICARE are virtually the lowest-paying insurance plans in the country and typically pay doctors 20% to 30% less than commercial plans.

"The military community's number one health care problem is finding doctors who will accept TRICARE," said Strobridge. "That's particularly true for Guard and Reserve families, retirees, and survivors who live in areas where there isn't a large military population."

"Reducing payment rates even further could have a devastating effect on health care access for military beneficiaries. When we send our servicemembers in harm's way, the last thing they should have to worry about is whether their families will be able to find a TRICARE doctor, or whether their current doctor will stop seeing them."

"We must make sure Medicare and TRICARE provider payments don't fall even further behind reasonable standards that are recognized everywhere but in current law."

Please help this cause by visiting MOAA's Web site and enter your ZIP code to send your legislators a MOAA-suggested message on the urgency of immediate action. )