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December 20, 2011 in Nation/World
Medicare cuts could hit Jan. 18
WASHINGTON — Nearly 650,000 doctors caring for millions of seniors will get a steep cut in Medicare payments Jan. 18 unless a gridlocked Congress issues a reprieve, program officials said today.
A provision waiving a scheduled 27.4 percent cut in physician reimbursement was included in the payroll tax legislation now ensnared in partisan political wrangling between the House and Senate.
Medicare deputy administrator Jonathan Blum told the Associated Press the cut will go through unless Congress acts, because the backlog from more than a couple of weeks of waiting for lawmakers could cause the program’s computers to crash.
Tax legislation passed by the Senate last week included a two-month Medicare reprieve, but House Republicans rejected that today.
“Today’s vote calls into question whether millions of seniors in Medicare will continue to get the care that they need,” said Joyce Rogers, vice president of AARP, the lobby for older people. “More physicians may choose to no longer take Medicare patients due to this dramatic cut.”
The recurring threat of cuts to doctors is perhaps the most visible symbol of Medicare’s financial problems. Reductions are required by a 1990s budget law that failed to control spending but never got repealed. Instead, Congress passes a temporary fix each time, only to grow the size of cuts required next time around.
Medicare sent an alert to doctors on Monday telling them it will hold claims for the first 10 business days of 2012 unless Congress acts to waive the cuts.
Today, Blum said holding claims any longer than that could cause problems for Medicare’s computers, designed to expedite payment. That disclosure may come as a shock to lawmakers, since Medicare was able to hold claims for more than 20 days during a similar standoff last year during the summer.
“We feel that (Medicare) came very close operationally to crashing our system back in 2010,” Blum said in an interview. “From a stewardship perspective, that is something we feel we can never repeat again.”
Blum said Medicare has told the contractors handling its billing to start paying claims for 2012 at the lower rate on Jan. 18.
One factor that worries officials is that claims volume is expected to be high in winter months.
After the previous prolonged standoff over cuts, Medicare also heard from many doctors who said delaying payments to wait for Congress doesn’t necessarily help them. Most medical practices are small businesses with payroll and other obligations and limited ability to quickly raise cash.
“What doctors told us afterwards is that it was better to provide some cash flow than no cash flow,” said Blum. Congress can restore the funds later.
If allowed to go through, such steep cuts could undermine care for millions of elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries, as well as military retirees. Payment rates in the Pentagon’s program are pegged to Medicare.
And doctors are not the only medical providers affected. Therapists, nurse practitioners and other professionals are also covered by the same payment system. Some doctors have said they will stop taking new Medicare patients.
The American Medical Association was hoping for a permanent fix to the payment problem this year. That was thwarted by the failure of the congressional supercommittee to come up with a bipartisan plan to reduce government debt.
The payroll tax bill approved by the House included a two-year reprieve for doctors. But that was whittled down to two months in the compromise tax legislation overwhelmingly passed by the Senate passed last week, and intended as a place-holder to buy a little more time for lawmakers to negotiate. House Republicans rejected that deal.
The AMA says the annual spectacle is eroding the confidence of doctors and patients.
“Congress has again failed to fulfill its responsibilities,” said Dr. Peter Carmel, the group’s president. “It is shameful that patients and physicians are the collateral damage.”
© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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oneanddone on December 20 at 3:35 p.m.
“It is shameful that patients and physicians are the collateral damage.”
BS. The collateral damage is to the taxpayer, given how totally in the crapper Medicare is. Something has to give.
steptoe_fan on December 20 at 4:14 p.m.
if this is the only way to get control of the out of control spending of this entitlement, then so be it !
i tip my hat to the house republicans !
murray and cantwell only understand more spending.
dataxman on December 20 at 4:15 p.m.
This really shows what a joke budgeting in DC is. Obamacare took half a billion from Medicare to keep the cost under a trillion. The last budget battle showed savings from Medicare. Cut and cut then restore with these supplemental bills. This is how we end up $15,000,000,000,000.00 in debt…
nslopeofw on December 20 at 4:43 p.m.
Plus, the physicians that currently accept medicare will continue to do so, at the lower reimbursement. They are the ones that do it for the care, not for riches.
Funny how Obama starts the 27.4% cut in payments with Obamacare, then tries to make it look better by deferring it with the “payroll tax bill”, then blaming the cuts to medicare on repubs, and adding more debt to a administration who cant quit spending. This man has no shame, and needs to be removed. We cant lose with any of the opponents, as long as this “number 1 in the history of debt creating presidents” is a one term-er.
mrd on December 20 at 4:52 p.m.
The only ones that get hurt are the patient. I don’t see any doctors going hungry, they make a pretty abundant wage. I don’t consider medicaid an entitlement since I have been paying into it for over forty years. When i am able to finally use my investment, it will be something i have earned through the money both my employers and i have paid all of these years. Congress is violating the public trust with this stupid game they are playing. Put them under the same system we are under and see how fast it gets fixed.
Pigrobin on December 20 at 5:14 p.m.
Medicare is the elephant in the room. It doesn’t matter what we do with defense spending, if we don’t control Medicare costs, all is lost.
misjustice on December 20 at 5:26 p.m.
I agree with mrd, “Put them under the same system we are under and see how fast it gets fixed.”
meadman on December 20 at 5:29 p.m.
Obama nor ‘obamacare’ are NOT the reason for these cuts — this happens every year due to some formula that has been in existence for years, and Congress never resolves it. The House Republicans just ensured HUGE GOP losses on the next election. Idiots!
nslopeofw on December 20 at 7:13 p.m.
Meadman-
Lets make a wager now on the losses next election. I’m guessing its gonna get a LOT worse for the spend party.
detroitdude on December 20 at 7:28 p.m.
“if this is the only way to get control of the out of control spending of this entitlement, then so be it !”
Morons, the lot of you. We can’t curb defense spending, we can’t defund wasteful crap like NASA and the Department of Education, but hell yes, lets make cuts to those programs which really should not be cut.
greenlibertarian on December 20 at 8:53 p.m.
The “doc-fix” issue has been going on for at least a decade.
Get a clue.
Pigrobin on December 20 at 9:34 p.m.
So Mr Detroit, where did our federal spending go (FY 2011)? Health Care (Medicare, Medicaid, etc) 18%, Pensions (SS, etc) 16%, Education 15%, Defense 15%, Interest 6%, Transportation and other government spending 21%. And what’s expanding at a rate that neither party is addressing and will destroy the economic futures of the following generations? Ans. Medicare. Never mind, just call everybody names and play ostrich…that’s what our elected leadership does.
meadman on December 20 at 9:58 p.m.
nslope –- you are in for a big surprise if you think the public is taking kindly to the crap that the GOP is pulling in Congress right now. They will remember all these stunts and stupid votes, and the tea-bagger “15 minutes of fame” is coming to an abrupt end.
also to Detroit – NASA is not wasteful crap – the scientific advances we enjoy thanks to the space program and research are very valuable. Especially when you consider how much NASA “costs” us — the entire NASA budget is LESS than 1% of the total federal budget. Look it up.
detroitdude on December 21 at 6:47 a.m.
@meadman, point taken. But still, this country has so many problems we ought to fix, I think taxpayer money would be better spent improving our nation.