WASHINGTON — The infamous "doc fix" is back. If it becomes reality, home care advocates again fear the government will come looking for ways to make up the revenue shortfall.
This time around, the fix would amount to a "freeze" as codified in the proposed bill S. 1776. The measure would repeal the current Medicare physician payment system at a cost of about $247 billion over 10 years.
How does a "freeze" cost money? If Medicare physician reimbursement is frozen, it means payments will not be subject to the whopping 21 percent reduction scheduled for 2010. Spearheaded by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., this year's so-called doc fix (dubbed "The Medicare Physicians Fairness Act") would freeze doctors' pay for a decade.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., acting chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, confirmed that he would oppose the fix unless it was properly paid for. "It adds to the debt without a pay-for, and that was not in the budget agreement," Conrad told reporters in reference to the fiscal 2010 Senate budget resolution.
Provider Tom Ryan, president and CEO of Homecare Concepts, Farmingdale, N.Y., contends that the doc fix battle is yet another reason the HME industry must continue to espouse its value, get behind H.R. 3790 to repeal competitive bidding and support the Stand Up for Homecare public awareness campaign.
"Despite a PR blitz from [the American Medical Association] for support, I believe the House, which voted for 'pay-go,' will oppose adding [the doc fix] without 'pay-for,'" said Ryan. "What that means for HME is that we are vulnerable, oxygen is vulnerable, and the present Senate finance bill has many embedded cuts already."
The AMA PR blitz that Ryan referred to can be seen in recent press releases issued by the organization. Like last year, the clock is running on the physician pay cut, which is scheduled to take effect on Jan 1, 2010. According to the AMA Web site, the 21 percent cut will grow to approximately 40 percent by 2016.
"Persistent, looming cuts and low payments reduce access to care and keep physicians from participating in quality initiatives and purchasing health information technology," AMA officials said. "Medicare payments should cover the increasing cost of providing care so that seniors can be assured of continued access to physician care."
