GOVERNMENT & MEDICINE

Spending bill would halt cut in Medicare pay, widen safety net

The Senate and House have passed bills with several boons for the medical community. Physicians hope the increases make it into the final spending package.

By Joel B. Finkelstein and Markian Hawryluk, AMNews staff. Feb. 10, 2003.

Washington -- A Senate-approved appropriations package has moved physicians tantalizingly close to the finish line of a race to avert March 1 cuts in Medicare payment, with only a few minor hurdles remaining.

The broad spending measure, which would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, would add $800 million in Medicare payments to physicians and increase funding for a host of other health care programs.

But the new spending comes at a price. The hundreds of millions of dollars in appropriations the Senate added to the House version of the bill would require across-the-board cuts to stay within President Bush's $390 billion limit.

Physician groups are now eagerly watching to see whether the health-related Senate amendments survive as a bicameral panel works to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

Included in the package is a provision drafted by Sen. Charles Grassley (R, Iowa) that would freeze Medicare payments at 2002 levels through the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30. It also includes short-term pay increases for rural and small urban hospitals.

"It's important to act now, before Medicare's flawed payment formulas inflict more damage on health care for older Americans," Grassley said. "We have an opportunity to fix two egregious problems quickly and cleanly right now. I have been and will continue to do everything I can to make these adjustments happen."

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