Medical Group Seeks To Block Scheduled Medicare Physician Reimbursement Reduction

This year there's a lot more action going on a lot earlier than in prior years it appears. BD

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons in recent weeks has met with lawmakers to lobby for legislation to address "what it calls a looming crisis in its professional ranks," The Hill reports.
The society hopes to lobby lawmakers to include a provision to block a scheduled 10% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursements next year in SCHIP reauthorization legislation that the House Ways and Means Committee plans to consider this month. However, Senate leaders have said that they oppose the inclusion of such a provision in SCHIP reauthorization legislation. In addition, the "biggest obstacle ... is finding ways to pay" for such a provision, as a freeze in Medicare physician reimbursements "at this year's level would cost $21.7 billion over the next five years," according to The Hill.
According to the society, such a provision would provide a "short-term solution," but a "more sustainable solution is to track the quality and cost of health care," The Hill reports.