Physicians and their patients are encouraged to contact Congress now and urge them to repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula that threatens the long-term viability of the Medicare program. Although Congress passed a bill that provides a two-month delay to the 27.4% cut in physician Medicare reimbursement that was to take effect on January 1, without further Congressional action, the cut would now go into effect on March 1. If this happens, physicians may find that they cannot afford to accept Medicare and TRICARE insurance, and many seniors and military families will lose access to the medical care they need and deserve.

Tell your senators and representative it’s time to fix this problem and protect access to care and the long-term viability of these important health care programs.

Contacting your Ohio legislators is easy:

• Senator Sherrod Brown

• Senator Rob Portman

• Representative Steve Chabot (District 1)

• Representative Jean Schmidt (District 2)

• Representative John Boehner (District 8)

• AMA’s Physicians’ Grassroots Network

• OSMA’s Legislative Contact Page

For Patients — AMA’s Patients’ Action Network

The First District Delegation, which encompasses Hamilton and several surrounding counties, is seeking members to serve as alternate delegates. Alternate delegates are expected to attend the Ohio State Medical Association Annual Meeting, which will be held March 23–25 in Columbus, and must be members of both the Academy of Medicine of Cincinnati and the OSMA.

The First District Delegation will schedule one more planning meeting (date to be announced) prior to the OSMA Annual Meeting to continue preparations. A major role of the delegation is to present resolutions to the state organization on any issues or concerns that local physicians have.

If you might be interested in serving on the Delegation, please contact Academy Assistant Executive Director Nancy Coomer or by phone at 513-421-7010, ext. 307.

Academy of Medicine President-elect Robyn Chatman, MD, serves as First District Councilor. 

The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati has launched a regional public education effort to help explain how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will change health coverage. As parts of the ACA became effective, research conducted by he Health Foundation found that most of the community did not understand how the changes would affect them.

Part of the Foundation’s campaign includes printable flyers addressing the changes that are in effect. Topics include:

• An ACA overview;
• How will your Medicare benefits change?
• How will your private health insurance benefits change? and
• If you are not insured, what will your choices be?

Physicians are invited to print the flyers and make them available to their patients. Physicians can also order printed copies of the flyers by contacting Nathalie Raymer at nraymer@healthfoundation.org.