Although President Obama's proposed $3.73 trillion budget for 2012 calls for more than $1 trillion in slashed spending, it protects doctors from steep cuts in their Medicare payments with a two year reprieve. The budget delays a scheduled 25 percent cut in the Sustainable Growth Rate, Medicare's physician payment formula that was slated to go into effect in 2012, The Hill blog reports.
To cover the cost of shielding physician reimbursements from cuts for two years, Obama plans to squeeze $62 billion in savings out of Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals and doctors and via expanded use of generic drugs in federal health programs, the New York Times reports.
Because Republicans want even deeper spending cuts, Obama may be forced to cave in to larger cuts in overall nonsecurity spending than he endorses now, the Times reports.
The American Medical Association has called for the SGR to be eliminated entirely after Congressional delays over the issue wreaked havoc on physician practices.
To learn more:
- read this Wall Street Journal article
- read The Hill blog post
- here's the New York Times article
- read the Washington Post article