Physicians Have Something to Celebrate as the Medicare Cut is Delayed One Year and Physicians Are Exempt From the Red Flags Rules
Two milestone Acts were approved by Congress this week and both will be presented to President Obama for his signature shortly.
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What he will be signing:
- The “Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010” This legislation freezes Medicare physician payments at current rates through the end of 2011. The Act also includes funds for Medicare contractors to pay claims for physician services affected by provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed last spring. The bill, estimated to cost $19.3 billion over 10 years, will be paid for by changing a provision of the health reform act that provides tax credits for people who buy coverage. President Obama released a statement saying: “It’s time for a permanent solution that seniors and their doctors can depend on and I look forward to working with Congress to address this matter once and for all in the coming year.
- “Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010” changes the Red Flags Rule’s definition of “creditor” and relieves doctors from complying with the Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft prevention law.
Posted in: Headlines, Medicare & Reimbursement
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Delaying the cut until next year is just kicking the can down the road and solves nothing. I’m not celebrating because next year the government will be threatening us with an even bigger cut. Nothing will happen until there is a crisis.The government will not cut medicare 30+ % as there will be an exodus of docs from medicare.On the other hand they cant fix the problem as they cant find the money to pay for it.
I’m sick and tired of people saying I should be happy that the government has delayed the cut in medicare ANOTHER YEAR! How many years has it been now?
If you think about it, keeping reimbursements the same while our overhead continues to climb is in fact a pay cut.
Hi Craig,
Yes, the big picture is that the physician payment system has been broken for a long time. One of the problems is that physicians have not been willing to be politically active, so their voices have only recently been heard. Do you think physicians are willing to become politically vocal so they can take a part in molding their future?
Thanks for commenting.
Best wishes,
Mary Pat