The pay cut and provisions to halt get more confusing and complex every years it seems...after looking at what the stockholders get in dividends and the salaries of the CEOs with insurance companies today, it would not seem unfair to believe they are over paid..many make bit profits from Medicare Advantage plans and have stated they will continue to market for more...according to this article, a veto would be recommended for any legislation that results in a loss of benefits or choices for participants...and that is happening anyway as time goes on...so what gives here? Read the related article below for some additional insight..even if the 10% pay cut is avoided, how about the other 1400 pages of the bill that could incur additional cuts...and those won't go away, like the radiology fees that were reduced a couple years ago....BD
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration on Tuesday threatened to veto any legislation that cuts payments to private insurers as a way to give physicians more money when treating Medicare patients.
Beginning Jan. 1, physicians face a 10 percent pay cut when treating the elderly and disabled. If that occurs, doctors warn that some in their ranks will quit seeing new Medicare patients. Congress has intervened in recent years to make sure similar cuts didn't go into effect, and is likely to do so again this year. However, it has to find a way to pay for the fix.
Democratic lawmakers say the best place to start would be by curbing payments to private insurers that provide health insurance coverage to the elderly. In the program, called Medicare Advantage, the government pays insurers for taking on the risk of covering the patient's health needs. But some believe the insurers are overpaid.
The Associated Press: Leavitt Warns of Another Bush Veto
Related article about doctors refusing Medicare...
Two out of three doctors in Sarasota County say they will either stop accepting new Medicare patients, or any Medicare patients at all, if the federal program's payments do not improve.
The stark arithmetic came in the Sarasota County Medical Society's poll of its members, released last month as the Medicare program announced its 1,481-page preliminary rule for 2008, including a 10.1 overall percent cut to what it pays doctors.
In 2006, Medicare paid radiologists $2,714 for the test. The next year, it cut the payment to $1,027 -- a 60 percent reduction. Even relatively simple tests saw reductions. Medicare's payments for a bone density scan for osteoporosis went from $133 to $79.
The reductions have ripple effects. Private insurers, for example, tend to pay a small percentage over Medicare. Cuts to the federal program drive down their payments. But physician payments still can decline even in a supposed freeze. Figures for five common procedures, including appendectomy and gall bladder removal, show that Medicare's rates rose from 2002 through 2005, then fell back to 2002 levels by this year.
"They have everyone fighting for the crumbs," he said. "The 10 percent cut will go away," Erquiaga said. "But there are other cuts in the 1,400 pages that won't go away."
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071204/BUSINESS/712040321/-1/newssitemap
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