California seniors need Congress to act on Medicare cuts formula: Choice of physicians at risk
  California residents face several issues with choice of physicians and access to care:  9.0% of the state's residents live in a designated primary care shortage area; 13.3% report that they could not see a doctor in the last 12 months due to cost; there are 274 emergency department visits per 1,000 population in the state; and 31% of the state's Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and over live below 150% of the federal poverty level, among the nation's highest.
  On March 1, 2010, California physicians face an across-the-board cut of 21.2%, with more cuts likely to follow over the next few years due to a flawed payment update formula, the Sustainable Growth Rate or SGR.
  By repealing the SGR formula, Congress can avert these cuts.  SGR repeal would prevent a loss of $1.2 billion in 2010 for the care of elderly and disabled patients in California.  On average, legislation to repeal the SGR would prevent cuts of $13,000 to each California physician next year.
  301,276 employees, 3,972,571 Medicare patients and 870,724 TRICARE patients in California will be helped by the legislation that averts these cuts.
  Compared to the rest of the country, California has more Medicare beneficiaries than any other state and, at 242 practicing physicians per 100,000 population, the state has a below-average physician-to-population ratio, even before the cuts take effect.
  48 percent of California's practicing physicians are over 50, an age at which surveys have shown many physicians consider reducing their patient care activities.

Information courtesy of American Medical Association