The six-month Medicare patch Congress passed in June is a very temporary reprieve for seniors and baby boomers who rely on the promise of Medicare. Delaying the problem is not a solution. It doesn’t solve the Medicare mess Congress has created with a long series of short-term Medicare patches over the last decade – including four to avert the 2010 cut alone.

In December, the Medicare physician payment cut will be a whopping 23 percent, increasing to nearly 30 percent in January. Congress is playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette with seniors’ health care. Sick patients can’t wait. Congress must replace the broken payment system before the damage is done and cannot be reversed.

Seniors are already experiencing access problems as a result of the complete congressional mismanagement of Medicare over the years. The baby boomers begin entering Medicare in six months, and if the physician payment problem isn’t fixed, these new Medicare patients won’t be able to find a doctor to treat them.

Failure by Congress and the Obama Administration to properly solve this issue will intensify access problems for seniors and military families enrolled in the TriCare program, and severely undermine implementation of recently enacted health system reform legislation. An existing physician shortage will be magnified and steeper cuts will prevent practice and delivery innovations.

Tell your members of Congress that it is time to end their mismanagement of these important health care programs, and honor their commitment to military families and older Americans. It is long past time for Congress to find a long-term solution to the SGR that does not create an even bigger problem in the future.

About one in four Medicare patients looking for a new primary care physician are having trouble finding one. About one in five physicians are already limiting the number of Medicare patients they treat because of the instability and uncertainty of Medicare payment. Couple these facts with a government-predicted shortage of 85,000 physicians by 2020 and the future for Medicare patients’ access to care is bleak—unless we take steps to turn the tide.

Please contact your members of Congress. Urge them to avert the 23% cut without increasing the cost of a permanent solution, and preserve access to medical services for Medicare patients and military families. Tell them enough is enough! Growing the problem is not the solution!