Medicare to Drop 21% Today

The Mass Med Society reports on today's dropping of Medicare reimbursements by 21%. This was a result of the tricks done by Congress in passing the health care bill this year, yet the problem is that physicians cannot afford to treat Medicare patients when the reimbursements drop well below cost.

As the Mass Med post states:

Earlier today, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) proposed 2.0 % update for the remainder of 2010 and all of 2011 and 2012, following by a steep payment cut of well over 30 percent and an additional statutory cut of 4 percent. The Thune amendment also included medical liability caps on non-economic damages and other traditional tort reforms. Thune’s pitch was that it was less costly and would start to close the budget deficit. That failed, 41-57.

The latest bill on the table is a six-month reprieve. It has a 2.2% update, and imposes the 21% cut on December 1. A communication from the AMA tersely noted, “This package may still lack the bipartisan supported needed to reach the 60-vote threshold.”

Clearly there is a great deal of game playing but the burden will be upon the elderly, especially those with chronic problems.

This was the direct result of trying to get the bill through CBO scoring by not including the true costs. The net result with be chaos for the next few months!