ISMA President William Pond, MD, recently published an opinion article in The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne) encouraging federal legislation to change the broken Medicare payment system. 

“When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services treats physicians as expendable, the negative effects are far-reaching,” Dr. Pond wrote. “Many independent physicians face an unfathomable choice between turning away patients or shuttering their practices.”

ISMA, the American Medical Association, and multiple state and specialty societies are strongly supporting House Resolution 2474, co-authored by Indiana Rep. Larry Bucshon, MD, R-8th, with sponsors including fellow Indiana Reps. Andre Carson, D-7th, and Greg Pence, R-6th, to help alleviate some of these issues. The ISMA and AMA also support a bipartisan Senate bill to increase support for physicians who provide Medicare and incorporate Medicare Economic Index adjustments. 

“The new Congress and administration should listen to physicians and their patients and begin, at long last, the process of creating a stable Medicare system capable of properly serving the growing population of Hoosier seniors,” Dr. Pond concluded.

Read Dr. Pond’s article >>