Senate Reaches "Tentative" Deal for One-Year Doc Fix
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, DECEMBER 7, 2010
Politico reports that Senate leaders have reached a "tentative" agreement for a one-year patch on the 23% cuts to Medicare reimbursement that are scheduled to go into effect on January 1. The deal would require a change to the healthcare reform plan's tax subsidy program, which will be implemented after 2014.
The change involves subsidies paid by the government to help unemployed individuals buy health insurance after 2014. Per the purported agreement, people who become ineligible for subsidies (i.e., they get a job) would have to repay a portion of the subsidy to the government. This should raise around $19.2 billion, helping to offset the cost of CMS pay.
What's most interesting about this deal is that it could foreshadow further amendments to the healthcare reform package. Politico describes the "must-pass" doc fix provisions as a potential bargaining tool for healthcare reform repeal efforts.
The one-year patch could pass Congress as early as this week.
