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Will Medicare cuts to doctors hurt seniors?
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Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) argues that the 21% pay cut for Medicare doctors scheduled for 2010 will jeopardize the services Medicare provides for seniors over the next decade.
Medicare is already losing the number of doctors who will treat Medicare patients.
Senate Democrats tried to pass a one year postponement of the cuts, but failed. Eliminating the cuts for even a single year would have cost $10.9 billion. The deferral of the Medicare reimbursement cuts is a provision in the proposed Senate Finance Committee bill.
To totally wipe out the fee cuts for all years would cost $245 billion. Without the savings from cutting payments to doctors treating Medicare patients, close to a quarter-trillion dollars would be added to the deficit
The Michigan Senator was joined in her opposition to the cuts by representatives of the American Medical Association, AARP and the Military Officers Association of America.
Oncologists are especially concerned about the impact of cuts on cancer patients
Senate Democrats hoped they could improve the chances of physician support for health care reform by providing relief from the cuts.
In the House, the Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) confirmed that the House would not take up any proposals dealing with payments to physicians providing service to Medicare patients until the Senate agreed to cuts in the federal budget to offset any new government spending, including rescinding the reimbursement increases for Medicare services.
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