Thursday, October 13, 2011

"Super Committee" Said to Weigh Preventing Medicare Physician Fee Cut

The congressional "supercommittee" charged with coming up with major reductions in the huge U.S. budget deficit is considering proposals to prevent a steep pay cut scheduled for next year for physicians who participate in the Medicare program. The bipartisan panel that has been tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings over 10 years has a "strong interest" in taking up the doctor-payment issue, according to a report released today from the Reuters news service, though the congressional sources cited in the report acknowledged that reducing or eliminating the scheduled payment cut will make the task of finding that $1.2 trillion in savings considerably harder.

For recent coverage of the supercommittee and its possible impact on federal health programs, see Psychiatric News at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/16/1.2.full.
(Image: Steve Heap/Shutterstock.com)

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