President Barack Obama’s $3.5 trillion fiscal year 2010 budget holds promise for physicians seeking a fix to what they consider a flawed Medicare payment system.
For years, physicians have faced annual payment cuts, and Congress has patched the shortfall with temporary funding. On Jan. 21, 2010, physicians face a 21 percent Medicare payment decrease, unless Congress intervenes.
Nydia Velázquez, chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, said physicians can expect “real changes” from the president’s plan.
Physicians testifying at a March hearing said they hope the president’s proposal pans out.
“Unlike previous budget forecasts, the administration’s new budget baseline recognizes that Congress needs to and will act to avert the serious access crisis that looms as physicians face drastic payment cuts in the coming decade due to the failed Medicare physician payment formula,” said Joseph M. Heyman, MD, chairman of the American Medical Association’s Board of Trustees.
Jeffrey Harris, president of the American College of Physicians, said the uncertainty in Medicare reimbursement rates makes it “nearly impossible” for physicians to plan budgets for their practices.
Yet in order to execute his plan, Obama will first have to face debate – most likely from both sides of the aisle – over the size of his budget.
In a March 24 televised press conference, the president defended his strategy to heal the country’s economic woes by healing the healthcare system. The U.S. economy can’t grow without driving down the costs of healthcare, he said, and creating efficient healthcare is inseparable from this budget.
The president’s budget includes $76.8 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services. Along with calling for Medicare and Medicaid reform and a permanent physician payment fix, Obama has asked Congress to invest in healthcare IT and expand research on comparative effectiveness.
He said his plan may not show economic benefits for up to 10 years, but will pay off in the long run. “It’s going to be an impossible task to balance our budget if we’re not taking on healthcare costs,” he said.
A Congressional Budget Office projection of the president’s budget, released March 20, said Obama’s plan will produce $9.3 trillion worth of debt from 2010 to 2019 – to which Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and a senior member of the Budget Committee, said, “CBO’s word is the gospel.”
“Congress and the administration need to get the message. The buck stops with the American taxpayer. People can afford only so much government spending, even for the worthiest-sounding causes,” Grassley said.