Physicians' push for Medicare pay relief goes down to the wire

CMS backs two years of increases to physicians but seeks to link them to participation in its voluntary quality reporting program.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Dec. 5, 2005.

Washington -- With Congress out of time to implement a long-term solution to the Medicare physician reimbursement problem before adjourning, the American Medical Association has begun pressing for two years of temporary help while lawmakers continue to tackle the issue.

A Senate-passed deficit reduction bill proposes that doctors receive a one-year, 1% Medicare pay increase to take the place of the 4.4% cut that otherwise would kick in Jan. 1, 2006. When lawmakers return from their Thanksgiving break this month, they will try to resolve the myriad of differences between this measure and the House version of the bill, which contains no such Medicare provision.

But Congress needs additional time to develop a new reimbursement system, one that accounts for physicians' costs of providing care, AMA Board Chair Duane M. Cady, MD, told a recent House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee hearing. The Association believes that putting Medicare payments slightly into the black for only one year will not be enough.

"Working together, Congress, the administration and the physician community can strengthen this program and correct problems that undermine its goals," he said. "In the meantime, what's needed now -- this year -- is at least two years of positive updates to reflect increases in medical practice costs."

The new AMA strategy on Capitol Hill comes as lawmakers struggle to put their outstanding fiscal issues to bed before starting a new legislative session and budget-writing cycle next year. Whether the physician lobby can even secure a one-year reprieve from Medicare cuts -- let alone the two-year boost that it hopes to gain -- will depend on whether lawmakers agree to commit scarce funding toward reversing payment reductions.