The Senate just passed a measure to postpone a 21% cut in Medicare payments by six months. Doctors nationwide have already long complained that Medicare does not pay enough to cover the costs of their practices. As a result, many practices have chosen to limit the number of Medicare patients they take on, have refused to treat new Medicare patients, or have refused to treat Medicare patients at all.
A further 21% cut in the amount that the state pays in Medicare fees to doctors was scheduled to be enacted this Friday if congress failed to pass a bill to postpone the cut. This would have made the situation far worse and likely caused more doctors to ration the amount of Medicare patients they are willing to take into their practices.
As it stands, the American Medical Association notes that 17% of doctors in America already restrict the number of Medicare patients in their practices while the rate is much higher, at 31%, for for primary care doctors. Furthermore the American Academy of Family Physicians notes that 13% of family doctors surveyed no longer participate in Medicare. And these statistics mark the state of affairs before the proposed cut.
Just in the nick of time it seems, the senate passed the resolution to delay the cuts by six months. However, the new measure will not go into effect until the house of representatives votes on it, likely next week. As a result, the government agency running Medicare says that it will process all claims for June at the lower rate, thereby putting a hopefully temporary strain on the Medicare system.
The delay in passing what is now being referred to as the “doc fix” bill, arose from disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over how the bill should be funded. Many Democrats argued for its inclusion in a more robust jobs bill funded by further expenditures, while Republicans wanted to fund the so called “doc fix” by changing billing procedures, instating anti-fraud measures, and other cost cutting initiatives. In the end, it was this latter form of the bill that was passed. However, Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi is now threatening to challenge the bill when it is put before the House for fear that it does not do enough to improve access to coverage for Medicare patients.
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