MINNEAPOLIS. June 25, 2008—Nancy Nielsen, M.D. , newly elected president of the American Medical Association, has called on the U.S. Senate to take action this week to pass H.R. 6331, The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, passed Tuesday by the House of Representatives.

"The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support yesterday in the House (355 to 59)," Nielsen said, "and we hope our U.S. Senators will vote this week to pass this legislation that stops Medicare cuts and provides a 1.1 percent update to help Medicare payments begin to keep up with the increasing cost of providing care to seniors."

Without action before the July 4th recess, Nielsen said, Medicare will cut payments to doctors and force them to make difficult decisions to keep their doors open.

Further delays, she said,  will create uncertainty for seniors and their physicians and exacerbate the likelihood of access to care problems.