Posted on 07/09/2008 4:55:19 PM PDT by Dysart
The Senate has passed an 18-month Medicare physician payment bill that negates steep reductions in the Medicare physician payment rate for the remainder of this year and next year. The legislation now will go to President Bush.
"H.R. 6331" in the search box after selecting "Bill Number") maintains current Medicare payment levels for the rest of 2008 and provides a 1.1 percent increase in the Medicare payment rate in 2009, thus negating a 10.6 percent payment reduction that took effect on July 1 and an additional 5.4 percent reduction that was scheduled to take place in 2009.
Bush has threatened to veto the legislation, but both the House and Senate now have passed the bill by veto-proof margins, making it likely that Congress can override a presidential veto.
"We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the vote and the efforts of family physicians who communicated with their senators about the importance of passing this legislation for Medicare beneficiaries, " said AAFP President Jim King, M.D., of Selmer, Tenn., in an interview with AAFP News Now. "With an 18-month update, Congress will now have time to develop an alternative to the flawed SGR (sustainable growth rate) formula."
This is the second time in less than two weeks that the Senate addressed H.R. 6331. Senate supporters of the measure could not muster enough votes to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote before adjourning for a weeklong July 4 recess on June 27. As a result, a 10.6 percent payment cut took effect July 1. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., brought the bill back to the Senate floor for a vote on June 9, and this time, the bill passed by a large margin.
King credits the grass-roots efforts of the medical community in general and the AAFP in particular for pushing the bill through Congress. The Senate vote represents a triumph for family medicine, perhaps signaling a turning point for the advocacy efforts of family physicians and their patients, who deluged Senate offices with e-mails and phone calls urging support for the legislation, King said. In the final analysis, nine senators who originally opposed the measure ended up supporting it.
"We have broken through the glass ceiling," King said, in reference to the AAFP's advocacy efforts.
Medicare relies on the SGR formula to determine Medicare payment rates. During the past several years, the SGR has triggered steep reductions in the Medicare payment rate that only have been averted by last minute-congressional intervention. In December, Congress passed a six-month payment update postponing an impending 10.1 percent reduction in the Medicare payment rate until July 1.
During the next 18 months, the Academy will be working closely with members of Congress to develop an alternative to the SGR formula.
Just kicking the can down the road...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Let's not even talk about how low cost prescription drugs were until pharms were allowed to advertise ala law firms...
Intentional or not, this is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. I'm probably one of those considered a mediocre patient.
To your point - it is incredibly stupid to make doctors bear the brunt of reduced Medicare payments. But then again, it's Congress that's doing it, so that's redundant.
Doctors aren’t the problem in healthcare, it’s government.
Unfortunately, that is becoming true for most problems in this country. The elected elite have insulated themselves from the repercussions of their acts that the rest of the subjects must endure. As long as this situation continues, the worse it gets. Our so called public servants should have exactly the same pay, benefits, retirement plans, health care system and everything else their bosses, us the voters, have. Then we might be able to make some progress
Agreed - so the question is - would it be better for Bush to symbolically veto this and have it overridden and have the problem roll on, or...? I think it really comes down to - what strategy breaks Medicare faster - driving physician participation down or breaking the backs of taxpayers? In situations like this - whee you would think the logical approach is to design a better approach - you have to destroy the iron triangle supporting the bad program first...
For example...Medicare decided to stop payment on all claims until the current mess with Congress was resolved.
House Vote #443 --- Jun 24, 2008 Result: Passed
From an email I received:
"According to a congressional rule, the successful cloture vote also serves as a vote in favor of the bill itself. "
Unfortunately, no specific citation of the applicable rule.
I have an idea...why don’t the people who can afford it pay a percentage of what they use? Just a thought.
The problem is that Medicare is really socialized medicine. You don’t have a choice. And the private insurance companies make sure that medicare becomes the primary insurer with private insurance being supplemental. The Dems want a Medicare system that will cover everyone, which will be a disaster.
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