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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

AMA ‘pleased’ with Medicare bill

By Larry Lipman | Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 04:25 PM

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Dr. Nancy Nielsen, president of the American Medical Association said her organization is “pleased that an overwhelming bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives voted today to stop Medicare cuts that would harm seniors’ access to health care. The bill also provides a 1.1 percent update to help Medicare payments begin to keep up with the increasing cost of providing care to seniors.

“Action now moves to the U.S. Senate. We urge the Senate to act prior to the July 4th recess to pass legislation to stop the cuts and allow Medicare to continue to keep its promise to our nation’s seniors. Medicare cuts will hurt seniors as physicians are forced to make practice changes to keep their medical practice doors open. The future for seniors’ access to health care is dire - unless the Senate acts.”

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AHIP Reacts to House Medicare bill passage.

By Larry Lipman | Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 03:34 PM

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Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, said the House’s Medicare bill would cut Medicare Advantage plans by about $13.8 billion over the next five years.

“Congress today rushed through legislation that would require Medicare Advantage beneficiaries to pay for the increase in physician payments without considering the impact these cuts would have on vulnerable seniors. As seniors learn the details of this hastily passed legislation, they will be shocked to learn they could face fewer choices, reduced benefits, and higher out-of-pocket costs if these cuts become law,” Ignagni said in a statement.

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House passes Medicare bill

By Larry Lipman | Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 01:05 PM

With less than a week before a deep cut in Medicare payments to doctors is scheduled to take effect, the House passed a bill Tuesday that would avert those cuts while trimming payments to private managed care plans.

The 355-59 vote came despite Republican leaders complaints that the Democrats had not given lawmakers enough time to review the legislation and had refused to allow the bill to be amended.

But Democrats argued the hasty passage was necessary because doctors have warned they will stop taking new Medicare patients if their payments are reduced.

Unless Congress acts, a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors is scheduled to take effect July 1. Under the bill, the reduction would be averted and doctors would receive a 1.1 percent increase starting next January.

A similar bill failed to win Senate consideration on a procedural vote last week.

The White House issued a statement Tuesday warning that the president’s top advisors would recommend a veto if the House bill passed.

Meanwhile, key senators who have been working on a similar bill appeared close to an agreement that would avert the physician pay cut without significantly trimming payments to private Medicare Advantage plans.

Despite reports that the Senate was near a bipartisan agreement, Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., warned members not to wait for the Senate to act.

“This may be the last chance,” Stark said.

But Rep. James McCrery, R-La., said the Seante would reject the House bill and even if it passed it would be vetoed by the president.

In addition to averting the physician pay cut, the bill would delay for 18 months a controversial plan to limit the sale and rental of medical equipment starting July 1 in 10 metropolitan areas including an area covered by Palm Beach, Broward and Dade counties.

Other provisions of the bill would provide greater benefits to the mentally ill, increase subsidies for low-income beneficiaries to purchase prescription drugs and require quicker Medicare payments to pharmacies.

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