MASSDEVICE ON CALL — The Senate Finance Committee will focus on how doctors are paid through Medicare, with a bipartisan pair of senior legislators looking for input from stakeholders.
Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) asked healthcare providers last week for their views on repealing the "sustainable growth formula" that governs reimbursement rates at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (and which has been over-ruled by Congress dozens of times to avert pay cuts for physicians).
The so-called "doc fix" has been a sought-after goal for Medicare reformers, politicians and doctors for years. Interest is peaking this year because the Congressional Budget Office recently cut the estimated cost of reform, The Hill reports.
Baucus, 1 of the architects of the Affordable Care Act, and Hatch last week said their "ultimate goal is for Medicare to pay physicians and other healthcare providers in a way that results in high quality, affordable care for seniors," according to the website.
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