By U.S. Sen. Angus King
(I-Maine)
During my first year in the Senate I have been confronted by a variety of issues that are frustrating and difficult to resolve. This includes the rising cost of health care and its impact on the federal budget.
Congress has tried to manage health care costs for decades. As part of this effort, since 1997, payments for Medicare services provided by physicians and certain non-physician practitioners have been made on the basis of a special fee system. The formula was originally intended to rein in the growth of Medicare costs by setting boundaries on physician reimbursement. However, beginning in 2002 the formula has led to annual reductions in Medicare physician payments.
Rather than finding a permanent solution to this issue, each year Congress patched the program and postponed these cuts through a series of temporary fixes. These last minute “doc fixes” have resulted in a situation of financial uncertainty for Medicare providers. Imagine the frustration of not knowing until the last minute what you are going to be paid for your services next year.
Now the cuts have accumulated to an unsustainable level and unless Congress intervenes, Medicare physician payments will be reduced by about 25 percent on Jan. 1, 2014.
In my meetings with physicians, other health care providers, and senior advocates I have been hearing the same request; they all want a permanent fix to this broken fee system.
So where does Congress find $140 billion for the doc fix without cutting essential health care services?
Last winter I joined my colleague Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) to introduce the Medicare Drug Savings Act of 2013. Our bill would reinstate the rebates paid by drug manufacturers for low-income Medicare enrollees saving taxpayers $140 billion over 10 years.
Notice the similarities in the two numbers?
Passing the Medicare Drug Savings Act represents a sensible way to pay for permanently repairing the doc fix. This change would not harm patients, health care providers or hospitals in any way. Linking these two issues solves a long standing problem by allowing us to finally move beyond this broken system and create certainty and stability for both physicians and hospitals.
Sometimes a common sense solution is right in front of us, in this case all we have to do it grab it.
