MINNEAPOLIS, March 24, 2008—Eight out of 10 Americans are concerned about access to care for seniors and baby boomers because of government cuts to physicians caring for Medicare patients, according to a new public poll.

The poll was conducted for the American Medical Association (AMA).

On July 1, Medicare payments to physicians will be cut 10.6 percent, and over the next decade the cuts will grow to about 40 percent while medical practice costs increase 20 percent.

Seniors who rely on Medicare will be hurt by the Medicare cuts, as 60 percent of physicians say this year’s cut alone will force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat.

Already 30 percent of Medicare patients looking for a new primary care physician are having trouble finding one, the poll said, and the cuts will make access woes much worse.

Action by the U.S. Congress is the only cure to the cuts, and nearly three-quarters of Americans polled believe Congress should stop the cuts so that physicians can continue to care for Medicare patients.

The Save Medicare Act of 2008 (S. 2785), which would replace 18 months of cuts that begin in July with payment increases that better reflect medical practice costs, was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate.

A telephone survey of 1,006 adults 18 years of age and older living in the continental United States was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for the American Medical Association (AMA) from February 22-25, 2008. The margin of error is +/-3