Medicare Rate Cuts

When it comes to health care, Congress proved once again, that they are out of touch with the public’s best interests. They spent a week arguing over a bill that would have prevented Medicare reimbursement rates from being cut. The rate cut amounts to 21 percent.

Under a 1990s law, Medicare rates were cut for budget purposes. Congress has routinely waived these cuts but this time lawmakers concerns over adding to the deficit prevented them from waiving this exception in a timely manner.

It was finally passed on Friday by the Senate, but this proven to be too late. The House still needs to approve the bill and that has yet to happen. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to hold out for a broader bill.

Medicare has been holding off on processing claims but cannot do so any longer without hurting physicians’ cash flow. They have begun processing outstanding claims from earlier this month at the lower rate.

Once a bill does pass, it means doctors and other health care professionals who are billing under the current Medicare fee schedule will have to resubmit their claims at an increased cost to themselves and to taxpayers, if they want to be made whole again.

If passed, the new bill would delay the rate cut until late November, right after the Congressional elections. It increases payments by 2.2 percent and will be paid for by a series of health care and pension changes.

For now, it looks bleak. Doctors are getting angry over these cuts and many are worried that they will drop Medicare patients or stop taking Medicare altogether.

The federal government insists they can handle programs that expand health care coverage to the majority of Americans. But if they still cannot get a handle on efficiently running Medicare – a federal health care program for seniors that’s been around for decades – then is managing a national health care program really such a good idea?