Health Highlights: March 20, 2008

Cuts in Medicare payments to doctors have eight out of 10 Americans concerned about access to care for seniors and baby boomers, according to a survey released Wednesday by the American Medical Association.

On July 1, there will be a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors. Over the next decade those cuts will grow to about 40 percent, while medical practice costs increase by 20 percent, according the AMA.

In response to this year's payment cut, 60 percent of doctors say they'll be forced to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat. Currently, about 30 percent of Medicare patients looking for a new primary care doctor are having difficulty finding one, and the payment cuts will make access even more difficult, the group said.

"As physicians, we are terribly concerned about how these Medicare cuts will impact our senior patients," AMA board member Dr. William A. Hazel said in a prepared statement. "Seniors and boomers are concerned too; our new poll shows that 88 percent of current Medicare patients are worried about how the cuts will impact their access to health care."

The first wave of baby boomers will be eligible for Medicare in three years when they turn 65.

Nearly three-quarters of the 1,006 telephone survey respondents, aged 18 and older, said they believe Congress should stop the cuts so that doctors can continue to treat Medicare patients, the AMA said.

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Immunization Information Systems Enroll More Children

The number of U.S. children ages 6 years old and younger who participated in an Immunization Information System (IIS) increased from 56 percent (13 million) in 2005 to 65 percent (15 million) in 2006, a new federal report found.

In addition, IIS private health care provider site participation increased from 44 percent in 2005 to 47 percent in 2006, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2006 Immunization Information System Annual Report.

IISs can provide accurate data for making informed immunization decisions in order to better protect against vaccine-preventable diseases. Most IIS grantees (70 percent) reported that they have the capacity to track vaccinations for people of all ages.

While data on vaccinations were entered within 30 days of vaccine administration for 69 percent of children ages 6 years old and younger, results for several data completeness measures were low, said the report authors, who added that the findings highlight the need to continue efforts to overcome barriers to full participation and to ensure high quality immunization information.