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Senior Citizen Politics
Republicans Say Medicare Bill Must Have Unanimous
Consent to Clear Senate
Time running out on Democratic efforts to stop pay
cut for Medicare physicians
Dec. 17, 2007 – The attempt by Senate Democrats to
stop the Bush Administration from cutting the Medicare pay of doctors by
10 percent on January 1 has hit a new roadblock laid down by
Republicans. The GOP now says the only way to avoid their filibuster is
to pass a bill with unanimous consent. This means, for one thing, that
other Medicare reforms will have to be dropped.
Physician Fee Cut Must Pass
Chamber by Unanimous Consent
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last
week said that any Medicare bill coming to the chamber floor this week
must pass by unanimous consent, CongressDaily reports.
Lawmakers are crafting legislation that aims to
reverse a 10% physician fee cut, scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1,
2008 (Johnson, CongressDaily, 12/14). Lead Senate negotiators say that a
bill should be completed before the end of this legislative session, but
the measure likely will contain only the bare essentials,
CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 12/14).
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on
Thursday said that Republicans would only accept a package that alters
current policy and will oppose any measure creating new policy.
A one-year patch of the physician fee cuts could be
paid for by cutting about $8 billion in Medicare Advantage payments for
medical education, according to CongressDaily.
In addition, Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus
(D-Mont.) has indicated that lawmakers also could offset the measure by
cutting about $1.5 billion from a "stabilization fund" created under the
Medicare prescription drug benefit to attract preferred provider
organization plans to underserved areas.
Republicans have said that a bare-bones package
funded by those cuts would provide enough money to delay the physician
fee cut but not to increase physician fees or expand rural and
low-income subsidy programs (CongressDaily, 12/14).
Baucus on Friday said that Congress "will
definitely have a Medicare bill this year," adding, "What it is, I don't
know. Bare bones" (CQ HealthBeat, 12/14).
According to Baucus, the package "is looking more
and more minimalist all the time" (CongressDaily, 12/14). Grassley said,
"We are still working on it. We don't know what can get through the
Senate because at this point we're told by leadership that we better
have something that's gonna get unanimous consent" (CQ HealthBeat,
12/14).
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