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Medicare cuts scheduled to go into effect 2013 have been diverted.
The following article appeared in the 1.2.13 issue of PhysiciansNews.com.
Fiscal Cliff Averted; No Cuts to Docs!!!!
(for one more year...)
Late last night, the House approved the "fiscal cliff bill," which -- in addition to the more controversial elements -- would block for one year a scheduled 27 percent cut in reimbursements for Medicare physicians. The bill would keep reimbursement rates steady through Dec. 31, 2013 - providing one more in a series of short-term patches for the Medicare physician payments.
The cost of the one-year patch is $25.1 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Medicare offsets and other provisions would reduce spending by $25.7 billion over the same time period. This cost of avoiding the payment cuts is offset by adjustments to several other Medicare providers, many of which have been used to pay for previous "doc fix" patches. Democrats resisted pressure to pay for the cost of the fix by cutting spending from the 2010 health care overhaul, according to the Obama administration.
"The President stood firm against Republican proposals to pay for this fix with cuts to the Affordable Care Act or the beneficiaries," the White House said in a written statement Tuesday.
Hospitals would take some of the biggest hits to help pay for the cost of the doc fix in the bill. Recouping overpayments made to some hospitals for how they coded services under a payment system called "Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Groups" would save $10.5 billion. |
