Washington, D.C., September 24, 2002 - Organizations representing America's teaching hospitals launched an advertising campaign this week calling on Congress to stop the federal budget cuts to these institutions, scheduled to go into effect on October 1. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Hospital Association (AHA), and a number of other hospital associations and teaching hospitals across the country are sponsoring the television and print ads, which will run for three weeks in the Washington, D.C. area, along with a Web site www.stopthecuts.org.

The "Stop the Cuts" multi-media campaign focuses on the Indirect Medical Education (IME) payment, a specific type of Medicare funding for teaching hospitals, which is scheduled to be slashed by 15 percent on October 1. Unless Congress acts, this cut would total $800 million in FY2003 and could balloon to a total $4.2 billion loss in federal funding over the next five years.

"Our nation's well-being depends on the health care security net provided by teaching hospitals," said AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D. "With October 1st only a week away, we must get this message to Congress: stop these cuts or we all risk losing the essential services our communities, states and regions have come to count on from their local teaching hospitals."

While they make up only 20 percent of America's hospitals, this country's 1100 teaching hospitals provide a wide variety of services critical to the nation's health care delivery system. Teaching hospitals conduct two-thirds of all highly specialized surgeries, treat nearly half of all patients with highly specialized diagnoses and, on average, handle more than 30,000 emergency room visits per hospital a year. In addition, teaching hospitals train more than 100,000 resident physicians in various medical specialties every year, and supply more than 70 percent of the hospital care to the country's 43 million uninsured citizens. Medicare IME payments help offset the higher costs of providing these patient care and medical education services.

If the IME payment is reduced in FY2003 as planned from 6.5 percent to 5.5 percent, it would have a serious financial impact on teaching hospitals, because these institutions are already running on budgets that, on average, are only about 2 percentage points above a deficit. For example, over the next five years, with the IME decrease in place, teaching hospitals are estimated to lose $416 million in Pennsylvania, $91 million in Missouri, and $266 million in California.

On Thursday, September 26, representatives from teaching hospitals around the country will spend the day on Capitol Hill visiting their congressional representatives and urging them to stop the scheduled cuts and provide Medicare relief for teaching hospitals.

In addition to the AAMC and AHA, a number of other organizations have lent their support to this campaign, including Greater New York Hospital Association, Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, and Southeast Michigan Health and Hospital Council.

For more information, visit www.stopthecuts.org

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The Association of American Medical Colleges represents the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools; the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools; some 400 major teaching hospitals, including Veterans Administration medical centers; more than 105,000 faculty in 98 academic and scientific societies; and the nation's 66,000 medical students and 97,000 residents.

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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