Physician Payment

The SVS Washington Outpost

JULY 15, 2008 and ZIP CODE 20001; A Unique Victory, A Unique Opportunity, A Unique Challenge

July 15, 2008 will long be remembered as an historic victory for the medical community. The battleground was zip code 20001, the U. S. Capitol, where both houses of Congress overwhelmingly voted to override President Bush’s veto of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331). More importantly, July 15, 2008 will be remembered as the day the collective labors and voices of medicine’s advocates – from the AMA and the ACS to the SVS and the patients we serve – spoke as one to convince Congress to vote in favor of H.R. 6331, thus preventing a 10.6% Medicare reimbursement cut in favor of a .5% reimbursement increase for the rest of 2008 and a 1.1% increase for 2009. While the same Act had been rejected by the Senate only days previously, a blistering public relations and advocacy campaign, led by the AMA and ACS in five key states whose senators opposed the Act, plus the courageous appearance and support of Senator Ted Kennedy whose is battling brain cancer, turned the tide in medicine’s favor.

Highlights of H.R. 6331 -- Medicare Improvements For Patients And Providers Act of 2008

On July 15, 2008, President Bush vetoed H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. The main reason was the bill uses cuts to Medicare Advantage ($20 billion over five years) to finance the bill. Within a few hours, both the House of Representatives and Senate voted overwhelmingly to override the veto – 383 to 41 in the House and 70 to 26 in the Senate. The following are Highlights of the law

SVS Signs Letter supporting Stabenow bill, Save Medicare Act of 2008

SVS signed onto a letter with many other physician groups in support of S.2785, the Save Medicare Act of 2008 sponsored by Senator Stabenow (D-MI).

The bill would extend the 2008 Medicare physician payment increase of .5% from July 1 - December 31, averting a 10.6% decrease for the second half of this year. It also provides a 1.8% increase for 2009.

Large Medicare Reductions in President's FY 2009 Budget

On February 4, President Bush released details of his Fiscal Year 2009 budget, which includes large Medicare reductions - $178 billion over the next five years. Significant for vascular surgeons, it does not include any increases for the physician payment update.

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