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From: reply@patientsactionnetwork.com
Subject: Remind Congress that time is running out
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 11:32:31 +0000

Remind Congress that time is running out! Click here to send your message to Congress!       Dear Bob, The Independence Day celebrations are over and now it’s time for Congress to return to work.  When you saw your senators and representative at the July 4 parades and picnics and spoke of your concern about the Medicare physician payment cuts scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2007, you mentioned that: Time is running out.  If Congress doesn’t act before they adjourn in October, Medicare will slash what it pays my doctor by almost 5 percent. An American Medical Association survey discovered that 45 percent of doctors will either stop accepting or decrease the number of new Medicare patients they accept. If doctors are forced to downsize their practices it will make it harder for me to make an appointment. These cuts make absolutely no sense as millions of Baby Boomers begin to retire. It’s OK, Bob, if you didn’t get a chance to speak to your members of Congress over the July 4 holiday, because you can call today using the AMA Patients’ Action Network toll-free hotline at 888-434-6200. Urge them to protect your family’s access to health care by stopping the physician payment cuts. Or, click here to send an e-mail that your senators and representative will receive now that they have returned to Washinton, D.C. _____________________________________________________________________ Patient email to Congress: Dear [Senator/Representative name]: I am very concerned about the dangerous physician payment cuts that are looming over our health care system. As you know, if you don’t act on this issue before you adjourn in October, Medicare will cut what it pays my doctor by 5 percent next year. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg – Medicare plans to cut what it pays doctors by 37 percent over the next 9 years! As millions of Baby Boomers begin to retire these cuts make absolutely no sense.  You need to know that if these cuts take effect, thousands of doctors will be forced to limit the number of Medicare patients they treat, and some may have to stop taking those patients altogether. These cuts that you are mandating will make it extremely difficult for my family and me to even get an appointment. Please, protect my family’s access to health care.  Stop these dangerous Medicare cuts.  Millions of patients are counting on you. Sincerely, Bob Owen © AMA, Patient's Action Network | All Rights Reserved Click here to unsubscribe.