Healthcare providers still weary from the most recent drawn-out budget battle in Washington could have the next fiscal fight on their hands sooner than they think.
Experts have warned that it's the next round of deficit-reduction negotiations that the healthcare industry should be worried about, and it could hit providers in a couple of ways. Federal lawmakers must tackle the sequester, the automatic spending cuts that Congress postponed for two months in last week's fiscal-cliff legislation. (Medicare providers would not have seen their cuts kick in until early February, according to the Congressional Budget Office).
