The AMA’s National Advocacy Conference wasn’t the only place that physicians visited this week while in Washington, DC. 

Earlier this week, an estimated 1,000 doctors made a ‘house call’ on Congress. Their goal? To meet with congressional lawmakers and request support of the Save Medicare Act of 2008 (see the Insider, Vol. 9, No. 13, for more information on the Act), according to a statement by the AMA.

The government is already planning for what would happen if the pay cut was halted. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s projections, if lawmakers decide to stop the physician pay cut that’s due to take effect in July, the cost to the government would be in the billions. On the other hand, the AMA counters that not stopping the pay cut will leave patients in the lurch because many physicians say they’ll drop out of Medicare if they can’t afford to stay in the program.