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Write Your Representative: U.S. House Members to Urge CMS to Review Medicare Payments for Anesthesia Services

May 21, 2007 - Several members of Congress are sending a message to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), urging the agency to analyze Medicare payments for anesthesia services, which have been cut 8.9% in 2007. Anesthesia-related organizations across the country are asking their members to encourage Representatives to endorse the letter, which asks CMS to change the current payment formula for anesthesia to more "appropriate payment levels."

Representatives Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Dave Weldon (R-FL) have co-authored a Congressional sign-on letter asking CMS to take action regarding the under-funding of anesthesia payments, and for the creation of updated payments during the 2008 rulemaking process. To date, 22 representatives have signed on to the letter.

Please urge your Representative to help establish fair Medicare payments for anesthesiology; ask him or her to sign this important letter. Here's how:

• Send a pre-prepared message from the ASA's CapWiz action center.

• Go to http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ to find Congressional email addresses and phone numbers by zip code.

For more information, visit the ASA website.

Be sure to bookmark www.southoakland.com and return to the site often for updates regarding this and other important anesthesia issues.