In a surprising turn of events, the Bush administration has delayed a 10.6 percent Medicare physicians pay cut, which was scheduled to go into effect today. (Associated Press)
But Democratic senators Jay Rockefeller and Charles Schumer say the freeze is “misleading” and for the sake of “appearance.” (Kaiser Network)
Last week, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would halt the pay cut, to be funded by reducing funding to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. The Bush administration threatened to veto any bill that would reduce funding to these plans.
The Medicare physicians fee cut has been a much-debated topic for at least the last few months. No doubt Congress is concerned about the political implications of millions of angry Medicare beneficiaries and advertisements that imply patients may have less access to doctors because of the fee cut. Mike Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told the AP that HHS “will take all steps available to the department under the law to minimize the impact on providers and beneficiaries.”
Congress is taking a Fourth of July recess.