Medicare cuts of about 25 percent for doctor payments will take effect on Jan. 1, 2011 unless Congress delays the cuts again or works out a permanent solution.
A bill passed on Nov. 18 by the Senate effectively delayed cuts to doctor reimbursements, which would have been as steep as 23 percent, for the month of December, CNN reported. The House will decide on the bill when it reconvenes later this week.
The American Medical Association (AMA), which represents physicians nationwide including those that accept Medicare patients, applauded the reprieve but called on Congress to do more to prevent a “Medicare meltdown.”
“The Senate’s action ... to stop the Medicare cut for one month will help avert a health care access crisis for seniors,” AMA President Cecil Wilson said in a statement.
However, “this is a short-term reprieve, and the AMA is urging Congress to pass a one-year fix as soon as they return from the Thanksgiving holiday,” he added.
According to the Washington Post, the proposed cuts are based on a 1997 Congressional mandate called Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), which seeks to adjust Medicare spending based on the economy’s growth.
The cuts have been postponed four times this year already, CNN notes, but Congress has yet to come up with a permanent resolution.
Already, doctors who are anticipating Medicare cuts are turning away from and rejecting Medicare patients, instead having to resort to patients who can pay out-of-pocket or have private insurance, the Post reported.
“Physicians are having to make really gut-wrenching decisions about whether they can afford to see as many Medicare patients,” the Post cited Wilson as saying.
A bill passed on Nov. 18 by the Senate effectively delayed cuts to doctor reimbursements, which would have been as steep as 23 percent, for the month of December, CNN reported. The House will decide on the bill when it reconvenes later this week.
The American Medical Association (AMA), which represents physicians nationwide including those that accept Medicare patients, applauded the reprieve but called on Congress to do more to prevent a “Medicare meltdown.”
“The Senate’s action ... to stop the Medicare cut for one month will help avert a health care access crisis for seniors,” AMA President Cecil Wilson said in a statement.
However, “this is a short-term reprieve, and the AMA is urging Congress to pass a one-year fix as soon as they return from the Thanksgiving holiday,” he added.
According to the Washington Post, the proposed cuts are based on a 1997 Congressional mandate called Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), which seeks to adjust Medicare spending based on the economy’s growth.
The cuts have been postponed four times this year already, CNN notes, but Congress has yet to come up with a permanent resolution.
Already, doctors who are anticipating Medicare cuts are turning away from and rejecting Medicare patients, instead having to resort to patients who can pay out-of-pocket or have private insurance, the Post reported.
“Physicians are having to make really gut-wrenching decisions about whether they can afford to see as many Medicare patients,” the Post cited Wilson as saying.
