House Republican leaders have agreed to include a two-year extension of the current Medicare physician pay rates, including a 1 percent increase beginning in January for 2012 and 2013, in a large legislative package primarily aimed at extending an expiring payroll tax cut. Barring Congressional action, a whopping 30 percent across-the-board pay cut is scheduled for physicians participating in the Medicare program. Physicians have long argued that the payment formula for Medicare needs to be scrapped.For more information, see Psychiatric News.
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