Medical School Deans Letter
of Support for the "Medicare Physician Payment Fairness
Act of 2001" (H.R.3351/ S. 1707)
(Sent to House and Senate Leadership)
December 11, 2001
The Honorable ______
Address
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Representative ______:
The deans of the following medical schools urge you to support
the bipartisan "Medicare Physician Payment Fairness Act
of 2001" (H.R. 3351).
H.R. 3351 prevents a significant reduction to Medicare physician
payments for one year (scheduled to occur January 1, 2002).
Unless Congress acts before the end of this session, Medicare
payments to physicians and other health care professionals
will be reduced by 5.4% in January. H.R. 3351 would limit
the 2002 payment reduction to minus 0.9%.
The bill also directs MedPAC to study the seriously flawed
"sustainable growth rate methodology" (SGR) used
to calculate Medicare's annual updates to physician payments.
This year, several groups including MedPAC identified the
SGR as a critical defect in the formula used to update Medicare
physician payments each year. We also support this legislation
for expediting the development of alternatives to the SGR
system.
Your attention to this issue is especially important to medical
school faculty physicians who care for a large proportion
of Medicare beneficiaries. As academic physicians, they are
more likely to treat seriously ill and complex patients. Reductions
to Medicare payments could jeopardize beneficiaries' access
to these services. By supporting the "Medicare Physician
Payment Fairness Act" (H.R. 3351), you can help assure
that Medicare services-both routine and complex-continue to
be available and accessible.
Thank you for your support and leadership in addressing this
important healthcare issue.
Sincerely,
Albany Medical College
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Associated Medical Schools of New York
Baylor College of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Brown Medical School
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
Creighton University School of Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of
Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School
Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University
Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans
Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Mayo Medical School
Medical College of Ohio
Medical College of Wisconsin
Meharry Medical College School of Medicine
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Morehouse School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University
New York Medical College
New York University School of Medicine
Northwestern University Medical School
Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health
Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Ponce School of Medicine
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine
State University of New York Upstate Medical University
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College
of Medicine
State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences at Buffalo
Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
Temple University School of Medicine
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College
of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
Tulane University Health Sciences Center
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
University of Alabama School of Medicine
University of California, Davis, School of Medicine
University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA School of Medicine
University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences
The Pritzker School of Medicine
University of Cincinnati Medical Center
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
University of Florida College of Medicine
University of Illinois College of Medicine
University of Iowa College of Medicine
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine
University of Massachusetts Medical School
University of Minnesota Medical School
University of Mississippi School of Medicine
University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
University of Nebraska College of Medicine
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
University of South Dakota School of Medicine
University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Southwestern Medical School
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
University of Texas Medical School at Houston
University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio
University of Utah School of Medicine
University of Virginia School of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine
University of Wisconsin Medical School
Virginia Commonwealth University
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
West Virginia University School of Medicine
Yale University School of Medicine
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