ASCO Calls on Medicare to Abandon Proposed Cuts to Cancer Care

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ASCO Calls on Medicare to Abandon Proposed Cuts to Cancer Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 1, 2009

CONTACT: Jenny Heumann
571-483-1354
jenny.heumann@asco.org

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In formal comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) called on CMS to abandon proposed cuts to reimbursement for physicians who provide cancer care to millions of Medicare patients. The cuts would jeopardize access to care for patients nationwide – more than 80 percent of Americans with cancer receive care from local, community-based oncology practices.

“The proposed cuts would put the American cancer care system into crisis, at a time when the need for access to cancer care is growing fast,” said ASCO President Douglas W. Blayney, MD. “Cancer incidence is projected to rise quickly among Medicare-aged patients in the coming years, and the supply of oncologists is already failing to keep pace with growing demand. ASCO is calling on CMS to abandon these cuts and preserve seniors’ access to care.”

The proposed cuts, outlined in the CMS 2010 Physician Fee Schedule, would reduce reimbursement for oncology to Medicare patients by 6 percent. This reduction, on top of cuts over the past few years, would mean a nearly 30 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursement for cancer chemotherapy services.

A recent ASCO survey of practicing oncologists found that 87 percent of respondents would have to severely limit the care they provide to Medicare patients if the proposed CMS fee schedule cuts occur. In addition:

45 percent of respondents would consult with new Medicare patients but would have to send the majority of them for treatment elsewhere.
41 percent would restrict the number of Medicare patients they treat.
14 percent would have to stop seeing Medicare patients.
7 percent would close their practice altogether.

“Unfortunately, it is patients – particularly those who rely on care from practicing oncologists in their local communities – who will be hit the hardest by these cuts,” Dr. Blayney said. “Previous cuts to Medicare have already caused physicians to close practices, consolidate locations, and turn away Medicare patients. If the new cuts come to pass, even more patients will have to travel long distances for care, or will lose access to care entirely.”

The CMS fee schedule is updated every year and sets the payment rates for services provided by physicians across medical specialties. CMS is expected to review all the comments it receives and issue the final rule in early November.

More information about the proposed cuts to Medicare is available online at www.asco.org/policypriorities.

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An ASCO fact sheet outlines how proposed Medicare cuts threaten access to cancer care in the United States. Information on the fact sheet includes data from an ASCO poll showing that most practicing oncologists would have to limit the care they provide to patients if the proposed cuts go into effect, as well as stories from specific practices.