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Medicare is the federal health care system that covers about 36 million people age 65 and older, plus 7 million disabled. It has four parts:
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Financed by Medicare and beneficiary premiums, which vary among plans.
The plans are private and financed by Medicare and beneficiary premiums, which vary among plans.
-- Larry Lipman
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All the entries posted on December 19, 2007.
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Home > Medicare Monitor > Archives > 2007 > December > 19
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Leavitt: Medicare a ‘drag’
HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt says he’s constantly concerned about Medicare.
Leavitt told a National Press Club luncheon audience Wednesday that the Medicare program “is not sustainable” in its current form and “could be a significant drag on American prosperity.”
“It’s the kind of problem, unless dealt with, that could bring our country to its knees.”
Leavitt said it will require “some discipline” to prevent Medicare from taking an increasingly larger bite out of federal spending.
He defended a recent law that requires President Bush next year to submit a plan to reduce the federal general revenue share of Medicare funding to less than 45 percent.
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Congress delays doctor cuts, AMA ‘disappointed’
The House voted 411-3 Wednesday for a bill that extends the popular State Children’s Health Insurance Program for 6.6 million children through March 2009 and temporarily averts a 10.1 percent reduction in Medicare payments to doctors scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. Instead, the bill would increase doctor payments by 0.5 percent through June 30.
Despite the temporary reprieve, the American Medical Association is not happy. Here’s a statement from Dr. Edward Langston, chair of the American Medical Association Board of Directors:
“It is extremely disappointing that after all the hard work in the House earlier this year to replace two years of Medicare physician payment cuts with increases that would help physicians keep up with medical practice costs, the final action passed by the House and Senate stops the cut for just six months, which creates uncertainty for both Medicare patients and physicians.
“We strongly urge Congress to break the tradition of short-term interventions that are not funded and fail to chart a course for replacing a flawed payment formula that is a barrier to improving quality and access to care for seniors.”