2008
Medicare fee cut to doctors delayed
Amid intense political pressure from the nation’s doctors, the Bush administration said Monday it would hold off on a 10 percent fee cut in Medicare payments to doctors that was slated to kick in Tuesday.
The Bush administration is giving members of Congress time to prevent the reduction in payments from the federal health insurance program for the elderly when lawmakers return from a July 4 recess. The administration said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would not process Medicare claims for the first 10 days of the month, which in effect would allow Congress time to reconsider a vote to stave off the cut.
Should the cut take effect, it could have big ramifications in the health-care industry since some doctors say they could not afford to see Medicare patients if a 10 percent payment reduction occurred.
About 60 percent of physicians who responded to a poll by the American Medical Association this year said they would limit the number of new Medicare patients they would see if a cut took effect.