Unless Congress decides otherwise by January 1, physicians will face a 27.4 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement fees. From the AP:
No one expects lawmakers to allow the axe to fall, but 48 million beneficiaries and their doctors are looking on nervously.
Temporary reprieves have created a recurring problem that gets harder and harder to fix. A 1990s budget law called for automatic cuts to doctors if Medicare costs kept rising. Congress has issued so many waivers that a permanent fix would now cost more than $300 billion over 10 years.
In related news, home health agencies face a 2.3 percent cut in 2012, which would decrease funding by about $430 million. Kaiser Health News reports:
Home health advocates decried the cut, saying it would lead some agencies to close. The decreased funding, announced Monday, lowers the average base payment to home health agencies for a 60 days “episode of care” to $2,138 in 2012 from $2,192 in 2011. In 2006, the average reimbursement was $2,337, according to the National Association for Home Care and Hospice.
About half the cut in the payment rate in 2012 and 2011 was the result of a provision in the 2010 health law that lowered the fees.
“We have not seen the closures of agencies, but we are reaching that breaking point,” said Bill Dombi, an association vice president.
The health care industry is bracing itself for waves of retiring Baby Boomers, some of whom eventually will need long-term care. If a significant percentage of this huge cohort opts for home care, the lower rates of reimbursement for these agencies doesn’t bode well for providers.
