Impending Medicare cuts threaten to limit women's access to lifesaving screenings and treatment at the very point in their lives when they are at the greatest risk of developing breast cancer.
If the cuts occur, many physicians from oncologists to pathologists and from radiologists to surgeons will be forced to cut back on their services for our aging population. This is particularly troubling because 42 percent of all patients diagnosed with breast cancer are age 65 or older.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There's no better way to celebrate than to raise your voice and make a difference. Help ensure quality health care for women of all ages: send a message to your representatives in Congress and ask them to repeal the Medicare reimbursement cuts.
Dear Representative,
As one of your constituents, I am writing to ask for your support to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries with breast cancer continue to receive high-quality care. I am very concerned that drastic cuts in Medicare reimbursement to physicians could jeopardize access to lifesaving treatment and screening.
[your comment here]
As you know, on January 1, 2007 physicians treating Medicare patients will be subjected to a 5.1% reduction in reimbursement. For patients with breast cancer, this cut will impact medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, pathologists and other physicians who are on the front lines of providing quality breast cancer care. For some physicians, cuts of this magnitude could result in doctors accepting fewer Medicare patients, reducing the number of Medicare patients they treat, referring Medicare patients to hospital outpatient departments or even discontinuing service to all Medicare beneficiaries. In fact, a recent survey found that 45 percent of physicians will either stop accepting or decrease the number of new Medicare patients they accept if Medicare payments are cut in 2007. Furthermore, these cuts could also result in fewer nurses, social workers, case managers and other professionals to assist breast cancer patients at a time when they are urgently needed.
Breast cancer is a disease that disproportionately impacts the elderly. According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 42% of all patients diagnosed with breast cancer are age 65 and older. More than half of all breast cancer-related deaths occur in patients age 65 and older. We need your help to make sure that Medicare patients with breast cancer continue to receive the best care available.
Bipartisan efforts are underway to repeal this massive Medicare cut. I ask that you work with your Congressional colleagues to find a solution to this impending problem before the cuts take effect on January 1, 2007. Access to quality breast cancer care depends upon it!
Sincerely,
[your name]
[your address]
