Ways & Means Chairman Hopes To Move Medicare ‘Doc Fix’ Plan

If done smartly, this issue could reshape our 

entire health economy for the better

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee made clear Tuesday that finding a solution to the vexing issue of setting Medicare physician payment rates is on his to-do list this year, and he got some tepid support from a key Democrat.

Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., said that the effort could be helped by a recent reassessment of how much it would cost.  Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office lowered its cost estimate for fixing Medicare’s physician payment formula over the next decade to $138 billion due to lower Medicare spending on physician services during the past three years.  In January 2012, the CBO estimated the cost of the fix at $316 billion, which it reduced to $245 billion last August. Read More