Medicare doctors outraged

The senate's recent failure to prevent a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians has doctors outraged, according to the American Medical Association. The group claims that the cut places seniors at risk of reduced access to health care.

James Rohack, president of the AMA, said, "The Senate had over a year to repeal the flawed formula that causes the annual payment cut and instead they abandoned America's seniors, making them collateral damage to their procedural games." Rohack explained that the cuts will force many physicians to limit the number of Medicare patients they see.

Doctors from many states have convened in Washington for the AMA's National Advocacy Conference. There they will lobby senators to permanently repeal the Medicare payment formula, which does not reflect the increased cost of caring for patients.