President Barack Obama, in a message that mixed politics with policy, used the high-profile perch of his weekly address to urge Congress to pass a patch on Medicare physician payments while underscoring a commitment for a longer-term solution.
“For years, I have said that a system where doctors are left to wonder if they'll get fairly reimbursed makes absolutely no sense,” Obama said. “And I'm committed to permanently reforming this Medicare formula in a way that balances fiscal responsibility with the responsibility we have to doctors and seniors.”
Even so, a 21% pay cut will almost certainly take hold on Tuesday after legislation that would instead give doctors 18 months of pay raises stalled in the Senate.
About one-in-five physicians say they have been forced to limit the number of Medicare patients that they treat, according to a new survey by the American Medical Association.
In his speech, Obama singled out Republican lawmakers who have threatened to slow walk the bill. Many Republicans—and more than a handful of Democrats—have expressed concern over the cost of the so-called “physician fix.”
The year-and-a-half long patch costs roughly $22 billion, and an expected amendment to the Senate's bill for a longer-term solution would cost even more.
That money does not have to be offset, meaning it would add directly to the national deficit—something debt-weary lawmakers are loath to do.
On Thursday, the American Osteopathic Association, the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians sent a letter to the Senate saying they would support the amendment even though it's not a complete restructuring of the Medicare pay formula.
