As the clock runs down on the current Medicare physician fee fix, the AMA wants a new commission on federal spending to propose a way for Congress to permanently fix the formula that is to blame for steep reductions in physician pay, according to a report by the American Medical News.
The bi-partisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, created by President Obama, is scheduled to meet on Sept. 29 and then make recommendations in a final report no later than Dec. 1, the same day a 21 percent fee cut is scheduled to begin.
The sustainable growth rate formula caused a 21 percent cut in physician fees on June 1, but Congress temporarily patched the fee cut and enacted a 2.2 percent fee increase in mid-June. That fee-fix ceases on Nov. 30. In January, the amount of the fee cut would be raised by an additional 6.5 percent and in 2012 by an additional 2.9 percent.
Read the American Medical News report on physician fee cut.
Read more coverage on the fee cut.
- AHA Urges Changes in Proposed 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rules
- CMS Extends Hold on Physician Claims, Won't Process Claims Until Friday
- Top 10 Hospital Stories of 2010
The bi-partisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, created by President Obama, is scheduled to meet on Sept. 29 and then make recommendations in a final report no later than Dec. 1, the same day a 21 percent fee cut is scheduled to begin.
The sustainable growth rate formula caused a 21 percent cut in physician fees on June 1, but Congress temporarily patched the fee cut and enacted a 2.2 percent fee increase in mid-June. That fee-fix ceases on Nov. 30. In January, the amount of the fee cut would be raised by an additional 6.5 percent and in 2012 by an additional 2.9 percent.
Read the American Medical News report on physician fee cut.
Read more coverage on the fee cut.
- AHA Urges Changes in Proposed 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rules
- CMS Extends Hold on Physician Claims, Won't Process Claims Until Friday
- Top 10 Hospital Stories of 2010