By a voice vote, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on Tuesday that provided a 31-day reprieve from the 23 percent Medicare physician payment cut that had been scheduled to take effect on December 1.  Because the Senate already approved the bill by unanimous consent on November 18, the measure was sent to the White House to be signed into law.

The lame duck Congressional session is expected to continue for up to three weeks, during which additional legislation must be passed to stop a 25 percent Medicare physician payment cut that is scheduled for January 1, 2011.

Your NCMS urges you to contact your Representatives and Senators today and ask them to support legislation that would provide stable physician payments through the end of 2011, until a new payment proposal can be developed to replace the broken sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.

CLICK HERE for information on contacting members of the North Carolina Congressional Delegation.

On Monday, the AARP began running newspaper and radio ads in 13 states, including North Carolina, urging Congress to act to preserve seniors’ access to physicians. The ad campaign follows a mailing to over 2 million households and a phone campaign prior to Thanksgiving that generated 18,000 phone calls to congressional offices over a few days.