Members of the House of Representatives in an early vote today voted to postpone major cuts that were scheduled to go into effect January 1 next year in Medicare payments to physicians. The American Medical Association while applauding the measure said that a permanent reform was needed for the Medicare physician payment formula.

AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, said, “The AMA acknowledges today’s vote in the House to temporarily suspend for two months the 21 per cent Medicare physician payment cut that has three weeks to go, as this will allow physicians to continue to care for Medicare patients.”

Groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and The American Academy of Family Physicians insisted on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to follow a considerable Medicare physician payment reform.

The groups in a letter to Sen. Reid stated they would allow little delay of the physician payment to allow time for considering the permanent Medicare physician payment reforms.

The individual bill passed by the House in November would replace the SGR formula with an increase in annual payment by 1 per cent more than the growth in the GDP and by 2 per cent more for preventive and primary care physicians.