Side Effects: Pre-Existing Physician Payment Problems Persist

Kathryn Nix / April 12, 2010

No one can criticize the Obamacare legislation for being too short.  But even at 2K+ pages, the new law fails to address some major problems with the health system.  One of these is the flawed formula Congress created years ago to determine how much the Medicare payment physicians receive for services rendered.

Year after year, the Congressional reimbursement formula calls for sharp reductions in Medicare payment rates. And year after year, Congress votes to suspend its own formula. That keeps doctors from bailing out of the Medicare program, but it does nothing to remedy the problem of rapidly expanding Medicare costs. (more…)