Doctor Fee Changes

House sends Medicare "doc fix" bill to Obama.
The New York Times (12/10, A22, Pear) reports, "The House gave final approval on Thursday to a bill that would avert a 25 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors by freezing reimbursement rates at current levels until the end of next year." The measure "goes now to President Obama, who hailed the action by Congress and promised to sign the legislation." The Times adds, "AARP, the lobby for older Americans, had pushed for the legislation, saying it was needed to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries could continue seeing" their physicians, many of whom "had said they would limit the number of their Medicare patients if payments were cut on Jan. 1 under a statutory formula established by Congress." Indeed, Dr. Cecil B. Wilson, president of the American Medical Association, "said doctors had 'spent this year in limbo' because of uncertainty about Medicare payments."
The AP (12/10) reports, "The House has passed and sent to President Barack Obama a bill to delay for a year an impending sharp cut in Medicare pay to doctors that threatened to disrupt care for the nation's seniors." This "action to prevent a scheduled 25 percent cut to doctors on Jan. 1 will cost an estimated $19 billion."
The Hill (12/10, Millman) reports in its Healthwatch blog, "The measure was approved in a 409-2 vote one day after the Senate approved the $19.2 billion fix by unanimous consent." The legislation "now goes to Obama's desk, after he urged Congress on Wednesday to use the next year to develop a more permanent fix to the Medicare physician rate formula," saying, "It's time for a permanent solution that seniors and their doctors can depend on, and I look forward to working with Congress to address this matter once and for all in the coming year."
CQ HealthBeat (12/10, Weyl, subscription required) explains, "The bill (HR 4994) would freeze current payment rates until Dec. 31, 2011, and would avert a 25 percent cut in the rates scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The measure also would extend several expiring Medicare programs, including protections for rural doctors and hospitals." Hitherto, "lawmakers have only been able to agree to short-term delays, often just before the extensions expired, and sometimes afterward. Physician and patient groups have urged a lengthier extension of the 'doc fix,' or permanent changes to the underlying payment formula, to provide more stability for the Medicare program," but "Democrats and Republicans have not been able to agree on how to offset the cost of those proposals."
CNNMoney (12/10, Luhby) quotes the AMA's Wilson as saying about the passage, "Stopping the steep 25% Medicare cut for one year was vital to preserve seniors' access to physician care in 2011. ... Many physicians made clear that this year's roller coaster ride, caused by five delays of this year's cut, forced them to make difficult practice changes like limiting the number of Medicare patients they could treat."
American Medical News (12/10, Silva) reports, "Numerous surveys by the American Medical Association and others have found that physicians facing Medicare pay reductions said they were less likely to accept more patients in the program, or that they might drop Medicare altogether. Those surveys said seniors view Medicare physician pay cuts as a serious problem that requires swift congressional action." Dr. Wilson is also quoted as saying, "The AMA will be working closely with congressional leadership in the new year to develop a long-term solution to this perennial Medicare problem for seniors and their physicians."
Modern Healthcare (12/10, Zigmond, subscription required) notes, "American Hospital Association President and CEO Richard Umbdenstock also hailed the move in a written statement, saying 'Congress also extended key Medicare policies that without action could have restricted access for many patients and communities in rural and other underserved areas."
Geriatrician: Medicare physician payment cuts hurt seniors most. Geriatrician Jerald Winakur writes in a Washington Post (12/10) op-ed, "The temporary fix that Congress has passed to stave off the looming 23 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursements to physicians is better than nothing -- but the long-term problem remains unsolved. Lawmakers have for years kicked down the road tough choices on a critical issue -- and those who stand to suffer the most should physician pay be cut are elderly Americans." Winakur says that while he does not oppose all physician payment cuts, the "implement that is needed...however, is a scalpel, not the meat cleaver" Congress has been using. He concludes, "These days I can no longer promise my patients that I will be there when they need me. If Congress allows these unkindest of cuts to occur, the already-fragile health-care system serving our seniors will bleed."