On December 1st, Medicare and Tricare payments to doctors were going to be cut by 23%, the US Senate unanimously voted postpone this by another month – a stop-gap measure that has been going on for some time. This latest reprieve, called the Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010 will cost $1 billion. Outpatient providers who perform multiple services on the same day will be paid less in order to make up for the extra $1 billion cost.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) reached an accord yesterday to make sure seniors and families of military personnel are ensured continued medical care from their doctors.

Baucus and Grassley said:
“Working together, we have set a path to ensure seniors and military families can continue to get quality health care. This agreement makes certain that seniors and military families can be confident they will be able to see a doctor and get the medicines they need. It is our hope the Senate will pass this package as soon as possible to give doctors, seniors and military families the care and the certainty they deserve.”
Baucus and Grassley said they will work together to find a year-long fix to the formula before the one-month extension reaches its end. They added that they are both confident they will reach an agreement within the time constraints.

A survey carried out by the American Medical Association revealed that 94% of the American public is seriously concerned about the ominous cut to physicians. Apparently, most Americans want this sorted out once and for all.

AMA (American Medical Association) President Cecil B. Wilson, M.D., said last week before the latest one-month extension:
“This cut could not come at a worse time, as we are now in Medicare’s physician enrollment session for next year. Physicians want to care for seniors, but they are making decisions now about their Medicare participation status while they face a 25 percent cut. There is already a 20 percent gap between Medicare payments and the increasing cost of caring for seniors, and a cut of this magnitude could be the tipping point for physicians making difficult decisions in order to keep their medical practice doors open.”

Sources: US Senate, AMA