When it comes to healthcare reform, doctors don’t count … when it comes to cost analysis that is.
The Senate Finance approach to healthcare includes upwards of $245 billion to adjust Medicare payments for physicians. But -- for reasons that defy logic – that number is excluded from the Congressional Budget Office’s scoring. It’s the same political legerdemain that refuses to call a tax a tax.
The so-called “doc fix” would ensure that physician pay isn't cut. Some say the payment is a political carrot designed to ensure doctors' support of health care overhaul. Maybe so, but it is real money and should be included in the CBO scoring of any healthcare reform bill.
Honestly – a healthcare bill that doesn’t include Medicare payments to physicians?
As my kids would say, "word."
