Republicans Again Block Democrats' Effort to Stop
Huge Medicare Pay Cut for Doctors
Physicians say they are not making enough money on
their existing Medicare patients and would be hesitant about accepting
new ones
June
17, 2010 - A bill that would, among other things, extend some
unemployment benefits and provide a temporary fix for Medicare physician
payment rates languished in the Senate Wednesday as a procedural vote to
end debate on the bill failed, 52 to 45 - eleven Democrats broke with
the party to vote no.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus
announced changes to the bill Wednesday as Democrats tried to salvage
part of the measure in the midst of bipartisan demands to lower the
cost, according to
The Wall Street Journal.
"With support lacking, Democratic leaders moved to
narrow benefit payments to unemployed workers (by dropping an extra $25
payment per unemployed worker per week) and pare a costly proposal that
would suspend long-planned cuts in Medicare payments to physicians.
"Those changes alone would trim a little more than
$20 billion from the legislation, which came with an original price tag
of more than $120 billion, and would result in 'more than half' of the
bill now being paid for, said Sen. Baucus," The WSJ reported. (Hitt and
Boles, 6/17).
"Despite the loss,” according to
The Associated Press, Democratic leaders predicted serenely that a
scaled-back version of the measure - extending unemployment benefits for
the long-term jobless and providing $24 billion in aid to the states —
could pass, possibly as early as later this week, after relatively minor
revisions." (Today's Kaiser daily report includes
summaries of additional coverage regarding the Medicaid funding
provision.) There is definite urgency: Medicare "announced earlier this
week that a 21 percent cut in reimbursements to physicians would take
effect on Friday" (Taylor, 6/17)
Health On The
Hill Video,
June 15, 2010 - The Senate is debating ways to reverse a 21
percent cut in Medicare physician payments that began on June 1.
The legislation would also include additional Medicaid money for
states. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services
released new guidelines that would determine whether or not “grandfathered”
health insurance plans could retain that status.
The slimmed-down bill has attracted at least one
wavering Democrat: Sen. Evan Bayh, reports the
CongressDaily: The bill saves more than $16 billion by postponing
the Medicare physician payment cuts only through November "down from 19
months, putting the expiration of that provision on the same timeframe
as the unemployment benefits" (Cohn, 6/17).
Los Angeles Times: "Resolving the impasse (over the larger
bill) that has pitted deficit concerns against traditional social safety
net programs provides an object lesson on how hard it is for Congress to
legislate at a time when public anger over government spending is
growing but the appetite and need for government programs has not waned"
(Hook, 6/17).
Politico: "In the bargaining now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
up for reelection in cash-strapped Nevada, is still holding onto a $24
billion, six-month extension of federal Medicaid assistance from January
to June next year. The money is vital to the finances of states like
Reid’s, hit hard by the economic downturn, and he has the support of
President Barack Obama.
But the cost of the Medicaid funding makes the
program an easy target, and the dollars may still have to be scaled back
to win the swing vote of Snowe’s fellow Maine Republican, Sen. Susan
Collins" (Rogers, 6/17).
Chicago Tribune: In the meantime, the American Medical Association
president-elect is preparing to battle Congress on the Medicare cuts,
continuing the work of his predecessors. “The AMA is going to be more
insistent and a little edgier with its relationships with Congress and
the administration in demanding some of the things we doctors need,” Dr.
Peter Carmel (the incoming president) said in an interview with Tribune
Newspapers.
“Physicians say they are not making enough money on
their existing Medicare patients and would be hesitant about accepting
new ones if they are losing 21 cents on the dollar" (Japsen, 7/16).
And The
New York Times reports that a new study shows that cutting the
prices Medicare pays doctors and hospitals in order to reduce Medicare
spending has limited success, especially if doctors try to make up for
the lost income. "That is what happened, according to the study, after
Congress tried to reduce Medicare spending on cancer chemotherapy drugs
that doctors administer to patients in their offices.
Many doctors ended up prescribing chemotherapy for
more of their patients, to make up for the lower prices." The study will
be published Thursday on the website of the journal Health Affairs. "On
average, within a month of the diagnosis, chemotherapy treatment
increased to 18.9 percent of patients, compared with 16.5 percent before
the law went into effect in 2005" (Abelson, 7/16).
June
17, 2010 - A bill that would, among other things, extend some
unemployment benefits and provide a temporary fix for Medicare physician
payment rates languished in the Senate Wednesday as a procedural vote to
end debate on the bill failed, 52 to 45 - eleven Democrats broke with
the party to vote no.
Bill passed with help of only three Republicans,
signed by President last night
