Up to the minute information for your financial success.
Subject: President Obama's proposed budget protects doctors from planned Medicare payment cuts by fixing payments at their current rate for two years, delaying the scheduled 25 percent cut until 2014.
The short term fix . . .
The President's budget proposes to pay for the fix by:
The short-term cost of freezing the Conversion Factor for two years is approximately $62 Billion.
The long-term fix . . .
No specific long-term proposals for how to fix the SGR problem or how to pay for the unspecified long-term fix are included in the President's budget. The long-term cost of fixing the SGR problem is estimated at $315 Billion. The President's budget assumes that this will occur and that Congress will find the money to pay for this fix.
The best news . . .
Perhaps the most encouraging part of the budget is the Administration's commitment to find a "permanent" SGR solution, stated in the budget's narrative:
"The Administration is committed to working with Congress to achieve permanent, fiscally responsible reform and to give phycians incentives to improve quality and efficiency, while providing them with predictable payments for the care they furnish to Medicare beneficiaries."
Congressional Response . . .
Congress has not yet responded on the two-year freeze proposal, but is expected to respond tomorrow when Secretary Sebelius goes before the House Ways and Means Committee.
For more information and guidance on this and other issues that affect your bottom line, contact . . .
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