The American Medical Association (AMA) took the dramatic step of opposing a short-term "doc fix" bill Wednesday with just days left before a 24-percent pay cut is scheduled to hit Medicare physicians. The AMA urged House members to oppose the legislation, set for a vote on Thursday, because it would extend the Medicare provider sequester, among other reasons. The group has been pushing Congress to act on a bipartisan, bicameral framework that would rid Medicare of the sustainable growth rate (SGR), the formula that has forced Congress to patch the program's payment system for a decade. It is the SGR that is ordering the 24-percent cut on April.
