(Independence, MO) –In an effort to ensure access to quality patient care, Dr. Melissa Cable met with state senators, representatives, and their aides urging them to support fair Medicare reimbursements for physicians.
On April 5th and 6th, Dr. Cable joined a delegation of 230 ophthalmologists in Washington, D.C. for the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Congressional Advocacy Day. The annual event allows ophthalmologists from around the country an opportunity to meet face-to-face with their own congressional members and staffs on issues important to health care. Congressional Advocacy Day aims to promote the most effective legislation possible to enhance ophthalmology and the delivery of quality eye care.
Meeting in the nation’s capital provides both legislator and ophthalmologist the chance to discuss issues confronting the country—including access to affordable healthcare for seniors. Dr. Cable shared the pressing need for change in the current Medicare formula used to calculate physician reimbursement. The current formula calls for cuts in the next six years, which, in the long term, could mean a shortage of physicians for Medicare patients, or longer distances for patients to travel to practices that accept Medicare beneficiaries.
“Sixty percent of ophthalmology’s patients are Medicare beneficiaries, so we are very concerned for them if the current formula that continues to create these cuts is not fixed,” said Dr. Cable. “Congressional intervention last year at the urging of the Academy and the AMA derailed cuts, but these cuts will resume in 2007 unless Congress or the Bush Administration takes action by changing the formula. This is not good healthcare for our nation’s seniors.”
Under the current payment system, physicians are penalized if services provided to Medicare patients grow more rapidly than the gross domestic product. Services are increasing due to a variety of factors, including improved technology, new drugs and the sheer number of baby boomers entering the Medicare system. With cuts scheduled to total 26 percent by 2013, Medicare patients in Missouri, Kansas, and across the nation will surely be impacted.
Dr. Melissa Cable is a board-certified ophthalmologist with Discover Vision Centers, specializing in no-stitch cataract surgery, ptosis surgery, pediatric eye care, ocular disease, and Restylane / BOTOX injections. Discover Vision has eight locations throughout the Kansas City area and has been serving the community for over 30 years.
