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Congressional ‘super committee’ failure may lead to deep physican payment cuts
 Peter W. Carmel |
The failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction or congressional “super committee” to reach an agreement on a deficit-reduction proposal means that physicians may face a 27% Medicare payment cut effective Jan. 1, 2012.
“The deficit committee had a unique opportunity to stabilize the Medicare program for America’s seniors now and for generations to come,” AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD, stated in a release. “Once again, Congress failed to stop the charade of scheduled annual physician payment cuts and short-term patches that spend more taxpayer money to perpetuate a policy all agree is fatally flawed. A decade of uncertainty and repeated threats of steep cuts threaten access to care for seniors and military families who rely on the Medicare and Tricare programs.”
In addition to 27% cuts for 2012, if the super committee fails to reach an agreement, Medicare physicians could also face a 2% reduction in payments as part of automatic across-the-board spending cuts of $1.2 trillion dollars scheduled to take effect in 2013. The super committee has until December 31 to reach an agreement and repeal the sustainable growth rate.
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