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Sample Letter

Date

The Honorable (name of Senator)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator:

Unless Congress acts before this session ends, all Medicare payments to all physicians and other health care practitioners will fall by 5.4% on January 1, 2002. This significant across-the-board cut could exacerbate existing access problems for Medicare beneficiaries, particularly in rural communities.

Consequently, as your constituent and a member of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), an organization of over 6,000 geriatricians and other health care professionals who are specially trained in the management of care for frail, chronically ill older patients I urge you to cosponsor The Medicare Physician Payment Fairness Act of 2001 (S. 1707). This bill, sponsored by Sens. Jim Jeffords, John Breaux, and Jon Kyl, would trim the reduction in Medicare's 2002 physician conversion factor to 0.9% instead of 5.4%. It would also require that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission report back to Congress by March on replacing the formula for determining the annual update.

Geriatricians are particularly affected by reductions in Medicare fees. With a patient base comprised largely of frail, elderly persons, geriatricians rely on Medicare payments more than other physicians. Furthermore, the Medicare program under-reimburses geriatricians for the time intensive care provided to their patients, and, in some instances, provides no coverage for key geriatrics services provided to beneficiaries, such as geriatric assessment. We are concerned that the proposed fee decrease could further exacerbate the situation and result in a decrease in beneficiary access to geriatric care. For this reason, I request your support for the Medicare Physician Payment Fairness Act to ensure that our elderly and disabled patients can continue to receive the care they deserve and depend on.

Sincerely,