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GOVERNMENT & MEDICINE
Medicare pay fix, drug benefit closer to reality
House bills would give doctors 2% payment updates over three years.
By Markian Hawryluk, AMNews staff. July 8/15, 2002. Additional information
Washington -- A Medicare payment fix for physicians cleared another hurdle as two House committees passed similar Medicare bills including an outpatient prescription drug benefit and a three-year change to the physician reimbursement formula.
The measures would replace significant payment cuts to physicians over the next three years with updates of about 2% per year.
In 2006, however, physician reimbursement would revert to the current formula, which would recoup the additional payments from 2003 to 2005. That likely would force Congress to act again to avoid what otherwise would be a disastrous reimbursement cut. The bills would not reverse the 2002 physician payment reduction.
The AMA endorses the legislation and lauded its committee passage.
"This bill would avert a series of projected Medicare cuts of nearly 15%. Instead, Medicare payments to physicians, nurses and other health professionals would increase by about 6% over five years," said then-AMA Chair Timothy T. Flaherty, MD. "We look forward to working with both Congress and the administration to create a permanent solution to the physician payment formula before 2006."
Both bills would allocate $21.3 billion over five years to prevent additional cuts in the Medicare update.
"The net effect ... is that physicians will see a substantial increase in Medicare payment adjustment rates and seniors can be more assured that they'll have doctors to see when they need them," said Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Billy Tauzin (R, La.).
The two House bills differ somewhat. Energy and Commerce adopted an amendment with specific provisions aimed at reducing geographic disparities in Medicare physician payment. The Ways and Means Committee bill calls for only a study of the impact of geographic disparities.
At press time, Republican leaders were working to bring the legislation to the House floor before the July 4 recess. The measure was expected to pass mainly on a party-line vote. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats plan to take up Medicare legislation in July.
Copyright 2002 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.