Your Advocacy Can Make a Difference

Following months of intense advocacy work by the American Geriatrics Society, its members, and others committed to quality healthcare for older adults, Congress voted in mid-December to postpone the pending 5% cut in Medicare’s physician fee schedule for another year. Lawmakers approved a legislative package that would keep Medicare physician pay rates at their current level, and offer a 1.5% bonus, starting in July, to physicians reporting basic quality data.

The move to block the 5% cut, which had been mandated by Medicare’s controversial Sustainable Growth Rate formula and slated to take effect January 1, was a major victory, given the current fiscal climate. It’s also testimony to the power of grassroots advocacy.

Because much still remains uncertain, however, ongoing advocacy is crucial. As this issue of Annals of Long-Term Care went to press, word was that Congress could take another look at aspects of the Medicare physician fee schedule when it returns from its holiday recess January 2. The fate of Title VII Geriatrics Health Professions programs funding—which was eliminated in 2006, with devastating results—is also unclear, as is funding for the National Institute of Aging (NIA) and other initiatives that are crucial to ensuring quality care for older Americans.

That’s why we’re urging you, once again, to join advocacy efforts on behalf of these programs. Visiting AGS’ Health in Aging Advocacy Center online at www.american geriatrics.org/advocacy makes getting and staying involved quick and easy. Your involvement in these efforts has and will continue to make a difference. Numbers talk, especially in Washington, and we have the numbers. Consider these stats: The Advocacy Center has launched 15 campaigns since May that have garnered nearly 1800 participants, who have sent over 3300 letters to 387 members of Congress. That’s more than 70% of the nation’s legislators.

Overall, 320 people have signed up with our Advocacy Center, and members have recruited 134 new participants through our “Tell-a-Friend” feature. If you haven’t done so already, we ask that you visit the Advocacy Center now, register, and let Congress know that you care about geriatric healthcare. Use the “Tell-a-Friend” feature to help get family members, friends, and colleagues involved and make a difference for seniors. Together, we can help give programs that support quality care for older adults a healthy start this new year.