Medicare Physician Payment Reversal Expected

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Joe Barton (R-Texas) on Thursday said that Congress before the end of the year likely will reverse a 5.1% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursements scheduled to take effect in January 2007, the Washington Post reports (Washington Post, 9/29).

At a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing, Barton said that he plans to work over the next 45 days to reach an agreement on reforms to the Medicare physician reimbursement system (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 9/28).

Barton and subcommittee Chair Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) have released a draft proposal that would provide a 0.5% increase in physician Medicare reimbursements over three years, in addition to a 0.25% bonus in 2008 and 2009 for physicians who agree to report quality-of-care information to the federal government (Lee, CongressDaily, 9/29).