More signatures are being added daily to a petition that will ask Congress for a permanent fix to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) to avoid a “Medicare Meltdown.” As of Thursday, nearly 47,000 names from across the country had been added to the petition begun by the Texas Medical Association earlier this month. The NCMS has collected thousands of signatures thus far.
Have you signed the petition yet? If not, visit http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/meltdown/ and add your name to this growing list. The goal is to gather one million signatures nationwide so be sure to forward this link to as many of your friends and peers as possible.
Physicians are also urged to download a flyer that can be disseminated among patients to encourage them to sign the petition, which will be presented to Congress in early May. Unless the SGR is eliminated and a new, more viable Medicare physician payment formula is implemented, more physicians will opt to leave the Medicare program or restrict the number of Medicare patients they see.
A number of physicians are gathering signatures by posting a copy of the petition in their office, or providing a computer so that patients can access the online version and sign it during their office visit. Many local and specialty societies are taking copies of the petition to meetings and other gatherings and encouraging participants to add their names. The more names that are gathered, the greater the impact the petition will have as we strive to achieve this long overdue fix.
