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Medicare is a federal program to ensure that our nation’s seniors have access to affordable health care. Medicare is comprised of the following sections: Part A (Hospital); Part B (Medical); Part C (Medicare Advantage Plans); and Part D (Prescription Drugs). The Whatcom Alliance for Healthcare Access has organized the Medicare Study Group to identify and better understand the factors that are negatively impacting Medicare access in Whatcom County, Washington State, and the country with the goal of identifying strategies to increase awareness of these issues, improve public policy, and improve local access.

 

2008 Priority

Stop the scheduled 10% reduction in physician Medicare reimbursement payments for 2008, and establish a sustainable and more equitable payment formula

• The continued effort to cut the Medicare reimbursement rate to providers has a direct impact on access.
• There is a consensus that the existing formula doesn’t work.
• The Sustainable Growth Rate that is used in Part B and not Part A reimbursement formula artificially reduces payments to providers when costs are actually on the rise.

Focus needs to be on moving toward paying for performance with an emphasis on health outcomes. WAHA agrees with the phased approach recommended by the non-partisan Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (Med Pac), to stop the proposed cut to Medicare providers proposed for January 2008 and establish a sustainable and more equitable payment formula.

Medicare Reimbursement Policy Papers

• Medicare Physician Access & Reimbursement (2007 update and 2006 position paper)
• Medicare Physician Access & Reimbursement (2005 position paper)
• Medicare Congressional Report

 

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For more information on any of these legislative priorities contact Sue Sharpe.