This time, you could read their signatures.
In bold, clean strokes, North Texas physicians inked their names to a statewide petition drive Monday urging Congress to permanently fix the gap in Medicare funding that they say could cripple the system.
The petition by the Texas Medical Association, launched Monday in seven locations across Texas including Fort Worth, warns congressional leaders that some physicians could be forced to stop accepting Medicare patients if a permanent fix cannot be worked out.
The group is urging Texans from all walks -- not just doctors -- to sign the online petition at www.MeAndMyDoctor.com. Medical societies in 10 other states have agreed to join the Texas initiative, and another 30 state groups have expressed interest, officials said.
"My colleagues and I want to continue to take care of our Medicare patients," said Dr. Susan Rudd Bailey, a Fort Worth allergist and president-elect of the state association. "This is a problem that Congress has known about for a long, long time."
A 21.2 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians went into effect April 1 after the latest in more than a decade of stopgap measures from Congress expired. A new temporary measure is expected to be approved in the next week or two in Washington, but physicians say that is not enough.
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