Action Alerts

Despite technological advances, letters and personal meetings remain the most effective means of communicating with elected officials. There are circumstances, however, when it's better to send an e-mail. For example, if a committee is scheduled to take action on a piece of legislation tomorrow and your legislator is on that committee, then an e-mail or phone call is may be the only way to get your message through in time.

Also, if you are pressed for time, an e-mail is better than no communication at all. Once you develop a relationship with a legislator's office, you may find that staffers may prefer to communicate with you by e-mail when they are looking for input on health issues or scheduling a meeting.

If you choose to send an e-mail to your elected officials follow the same rules you would if you were writing a regular letter. Include your address and identify yourself as a constituent. To ensure that your e-mail is read, keep your message brief and to the point.

CMA Bills Hotlist

Click to download the current CMA Bills Hotlist.

Be sure to check here regularly to find the list of bills that the CMA finds most pressing.

How to Contact Your Legislator

To find an Assemblymember, go to:
www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm

To find your Senator, go to:
www.sen.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/senators.htp

To find your United States Representative, go to:
www.house.gov/

To find your United States Senator, go to:
www.senate.gov/index.htm

Stop the Medicare Cuts!

Physicians must keep the pressure on Congress to repeal the SGR once and for all!

For the second time this year, Congress has failed to prevent deep cuts in Medicare reimbursements from taking effect, jeopardizing senior citizens' access to health care. Before recessing in March, the Senate held floor debate on a bill (HR 4851) that would have extended a number of expiring programs through the end of April. That bill, which has already passed the House, includes a 30-day extension of current Medicare physician payment rates, postponing once again the 21.3% cut.

CMA and LACMA continue to aggressively fight for a permanent repeal of the flawed SGR formula, which threatens dramatic physician payment cuts year after year. We understand that you are weary of lobbying the SGR issue. But it is critical that physicians express outrage that Congress failed to stop the cuts and repeal the SGR once and for all. While all California Democrats voted to repeal the SGR in the reform bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in November, the issue remains unresolved.

Here's what you can do to help us in this effort: Call Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and your House representative to let them know the impact these cuts will have on your practice. Also tell them:

• Congress must stop the 21 percent physician payment cut and repeal the SGR once and for all.
• Congress must protect access to care for seniors and military families.
• Congress had more than a year to repeal the Medicare payment formula and ensure the security and stability of the program. Instead, it abandoned patients who rely on Medicare and TRICARE for their health care.

Use the AMA hotline to contact your senators and representatives (800) 833-6354. Just enter your zip code and you will automatically be connected. If the AMA hotline is busy, contact Senators Boxer and Feinstein at the Senate website.

Have You Signed the Medicare Petition?

LACMA and CMA members are encouraged to add their voice to this call for action. Add your name to this petition. Forward it to friends and colleagues to sign, as well.

CMA has also prepared a flyer that you can place in your waiting room to encourage patients to get involved.  Or contact Elizabeth McNeil, (415) 882-3376 or emcneil@cmanet.org.