The NCMS, AMA, and other physician organizations are urging their members to contact every member of Congress and ask them to repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula used to set Medicare physician reimbursement rates. The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction has been asked to include a repeal of the broken Medicare payment formula in its legislative proposal, which is due November 23, 2011.

AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD, is calling on physicians around the country to take advantage of this opportunity and contact their Representatives and Senators to ask that they replace the SGR. Click here to read Dr. Carmel’s column, Breaking the Cycle: No better time than now to repeal Medicare’s broken payment formula.

The NCMS urges North Carolina physicians to contact their Senators and Representatives by phone, email or letter, or a personal visit, and ask them to repeal the SGR, which currently calls for a nearly 30 percent reduction in Medicare physician reimbursement rates effective January 1, 2012. Historically Congress has chosen to delay rate cuts instead of tackling the SGR issue, causing the potential cost to physicians to dramatically increase over time.

For contact information about NC Senators and Representatives, go to: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc2011&state=nc.