Doctors push to delay cuts in Medicare fees

WASHINGTON – With Congress returning next week for a contentious lame-duck session, doctors are stepping up their campaign to pressure Congress to put off major cuts in Medicare payments to physicians that are scheduled to take effect next month.

If lawmakers do not act, physicians who treat the elderly under the federal program will see a 23 percent cut in their fees starting Dec. 1.

Democrats and Republicans say they want to prevent the cuts, which were imposed by a 1997 budget law designed to restrain runaway Medicare spending.

But addressing the cuts has become an increasingly tortuous ritual on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers from both parties regularly scrambling to find a way to head them off, often at the last minute. When deferred, the cuts accumulate, making the pending reduction so large.

In June, Democrats and Republicans reached a deal that postponed the cuts for six months. They made up the $6.5 billion price tag by making changes in pension law and some health care accounting rules.

The American Medical Association, which for years has called for a permanent “fix” that would eliminate the need for annual action to put off the cuts, is now pushing for a 13-month extension.

“The cracks in the system are widening,” Dr. Cecil B. Wilson, AMA president, said Monday, warning that increasing numbers of doctors are being forced to scale back their care for Medicare beneficiaries.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius told a gathering of medical school leaders Monday that the Obama administration also backs a 13-month extension.

But Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill and in the administration are still trying to figure out how and when they will be able to address the looming cut, which could require as much as $15 billion over the next 13 months, according to the AMA.