Congress has recently voted to make significant cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in 2006.  AAHAM opposes such cuts.  Cutting Medicaid and Medicare at this time only hurts those who need this care the most. 

In addition to these cuts, Congress has approved a major transportation bill that includes money for bridges and roads that are not even needed.  one such project has been labeled as the "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska, which comes at a cost to taxpayers of over $200 million.

AAHAM beleives Congress should reopen the transportation and appropriations bills and take out pet projects that are not a nececessity next year.  Placing the burden on the poor to pay for tax cuts and unnecessary transportation is not what our country is about.  AAHAM urges Congress to reconsider its cuts to Medicare and Medicaid at this time and instead cut out the waste on the trasnportation and appropriations bills.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

As a healthcare professional and constituent, I wanted to write and ask for your support in opposing any cuts to the Medicare and Medicaid programs that would hinder a hospitals ability to continue to provide the best possible care to all those who need it in their community.

Americans depend on hospitals to be there when they need them; to respond swiftly to emergencies, to welcome new life into the world, to help patients cope with acute and chronic illness, and to care for those who have no place left to turn 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But increasing financial pressures are severely challenging hospitals ability to fulfill this expectation. In 2003, 59 percent of hospitals had negative Medicare margins; that is, the majority of hospitals were paid less than the cost of caring for Medicare patients. Medicare margins have dropped every year since 1998, and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) predicts continued troubles with an estimated overall Medicare margin of negative 1.5 percent in 2005.

At a time when our country has been hard hit by natural disasters and families are without homes, food, clothes and jobs, Congress has generously rewarded themselves by budgeting hundreds of millions of dollars for projects in their state to help them get elected. At a time when the economy is running soundly this practice would be okay, but its not. The average person is still struggling to make ends meet. Spending a couple hundred million on a bridge that leads no-where in Alaska does not seem like good solid fiscal responsibility.

Those of us in the healthcare industry are, as should every American, concerned with the talk in Washington that has our elected officials trying to balance the budget on the backs of middle-class and poor families. We should be cutting all the pork out of the recently passed highway bill so that Congress does not have to take benefits away from poor families. It is troubling that Congress would consider penalizing poor children by cutting Medicaid and Medicare benefits in order to pay for the needed money to rebuild the Gulf Coast.

We believe the Gulf Coast needs to be rebuilt. We just don't believe that by cutting much needed care to poor children and the elderly is the way to do that. We would ask Congress to go back and reopen the highway bill and cut all non essential programs. All members of Congress should be willing to give up their non essential projects in the best interest of good government and for the people they represent. We cannot afford to spend out of control and then expect to pay for this spending by cutting benefits to those who need them the most.

As someone who deals with these issues on a daily basis, I am asking for your help and support by agreeing to oppose payment reductions for the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Thank you. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
November 27, 2005