Senate Leaders in both parties have hammered out a deal for a one-year Medicare physician fee-fix by taking $19.2 billion in tax credits to buy health insurance out of the healthcare reform law, according to a report by Politico.
The goal is for the Senate to pass the fee-fix later in the week, possibly by Wednesday, but liberal Senate Democrats may not be willing to accept the agreement because it takes money from the reform law.
The agreement staves off a 25 percent cut that would go into effect in January, following up on the one-month fee-fix for December that Congress recently passed.
The money for the fix comes from changing how much money consumers would have to repay if their income status rises in the middle of the year, pushing them out of the eligibility bracket for tax credits. Under the reform law, consumers who earn less than 400 percent of poverty – about $88,200 for a family of four – are eligible for the tax credits to help buy insurance coverage on the new exchanges.
If the lame-duck Congress fails to pass a full-year fee-fix and adopts another short-term patch, the next fee-fix would give Republicans an opportunity to take money out of other parts of the reform law.
Read the Politico report on the fee-fix.
Read more on the physician fee-fix:
- House Approves One-Month Fee-Fix, Following Senate Action
- GOP Might Tie Cutback of Reform to Physician Fee-Fix
- Federal Deficit Panel's Draft Report Includes Fee-Fix, Cuts for Hospitals
The goal is for the Senate to pass the fee-fix later in the week, possibly by Wednesday, but liberal Senate Democrats may not be willing to accept the agreement because it takes money from the reform law.
The agreement staves off a 25 percent cut that would go into effect in January, following up on the one-month fee-fix for December that Congress recently passed.
The money for the fix comes from changing how much money consumers would have to repay if their income status rises in the middle of the year, pushing them out of the eligibility bracket for tax credits. Under the reform law, consumers who earn less than 400 percent of poverty – about $88,200 for a family of four – are eligible for the tax credits to help buy insurance coverage on the new exchanges.
If the lame-duck Congress fails to pass a full-year fee-fix and adopts another short-term patch, the next fee-fix would give Republicans an opportunity to take money out of other parts of the reform law.
Read the Politico report on the fee-fix.
Read more on the physician fee-fix:
- House Approves One-Month Fee-Fix, Following Senate Action
- GOP Might Tie Cutback of Reform to Physician Fee-Fix
- Federal Deficit Panel's Draft Report Includes Fee-Fix, Cuts for Hospitals