Democrats would take from insurers to help doctors avoid pay cut from Medicare

"Congress"

06/06/2008

WASHINGTON - Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Friday that would stop a 10.6 percent pay cut from going into effect next month for doctors who treat Medicare beneficiaries.

The bill would take money from private insurers to accomplish the task, probably leading to another health policy showdown with the Bush administration.

The bill also would give doctors a 1.1 percent rate increase in 2009.

Some 600,000 physicians around the country care for Medicare patients. They are scheduled to see their reimbursement rates drop on July 1 as a result of a funding formula that calls for cuts when spending exceeds established goals.

In the last five years, Congress has routinely intervened to avoid similar payment cuts for physicians. The legislation unveiled by Sen. Max Baucus, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is the latest such attempt. The price tag for increasing the doctors' reimbursement rates is estimated at about $9 billion over five years.

The bill would also lower the co-payments that beneficiaries must pay for mental health services. The co-payments would fall from 50 percent to 20 percent. The bill could be voted on as early as next week.

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