Price tag of bipartisan bill averting Medicare doc fee cuts

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Price tag of bipartisan bill averting Medicare doc fee cuts
Mar 25, 5:46 PM EDT

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday that the bipartisan bill preventing cuts in doctors' fees for treating Medicare patients would total $214 billion in costs over the coming decade. Highlights of the CBO analysis (in rounded numbers):

PRICE TAG

-$175 billion, voids 1997 law that has repeatedly threatened cuts in physicians' fees and replaces it with new way to pay them.

-$6 billion, continues higher funding levels for Children's Health Insurance program for next two years.

-$6 billion, extends expiring Medicare payments, including to some hospitals, doctors and ambulance services

-$27 billion, extends or makes permanent other health programs including aid for some low-income people to pay Medicare premiums, health centers, diabetes research.





Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONGRESS_MEDICARE_HIGHLIGHTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-03-25-17-46-54

[truedelphi]

1. Even two decades ago, doctors were starting to limit their exposure to MediCare patients,

as they were not being fairly compensated.

And their staffs had to devote more time to dealing with MediCare provisions.

I hated that Obama added that clause to the ACA cutting the Medicare budget by half a trillion dollars.

Doctors who work at seeing elderly patients should be rewarded, not penalized.

[Cryptoad]

2. Only MCare cuts by ACA I am aware of are,,,,

cutting out 500 billlion in medicare fraud.

[truedelphi]

5. So the experts on the situation told us.

But many who wanted Universal Single Payer HC are pretty certain that what we are told will happen will differ in great detail from what will really happen!

Sort of like the frosting on the cake for HMO's and hospitals across the nation, when the ACA gave the industry some 20 billions of dollars to "achieve digital records."

Since most hospitals are franchises, which share their software with anywhere from five to 105 other hospitals and clinics, and since most of the franchises had already developed the software for that computerization, that money will end up being pocketed by the unscrupulous people who head up the hospitals and the HMO's.

[Princess Turandot]

3. The ACA cuts mostly reduced overpayments to private insurers for setting up Medicare HMOs...

They were being compensated at effective rates higher than traditional Medicare, while having the luxury of cherry-picking seniors in the best of health for their programs.

[dbackjon]

4. Hopefully this passes

The yearly uncertainty, delays in reimbursement it caused were troublesome.


Now the rest of Medicare is great - decent reimbursement (despite what whining doctors say), quick turn-around on payments, and easier to follow instructions than 95% of private insurers.