Your AARP ;
; WASHINGTON WATCH
At Issue Again:
Medicare Payments
To Doctors
Thousands of doctors and millions of Medicare
recipients are once again looking to Congress to
prevent Medicare payments to physicians from being automatically reduced. ; Without action, the
Medicare payment formula will be cut by 27. 4 percent on Jan. 1. ; This may sound familiar. In 2010,
Congress fixed the Medicare physician reimbursement rate five times. Each time, it was temporary.
; The problem, of course, is money. It will cost $300
billion in the next decade to
keep the current payment
level for the 600,000 doc-
tors who treat Medicare pa-
tients. This year, advocates
hoped the congressional
“super-committee” would
solve the problem along
with hundreds of other
budget issues. Regular con-
gressional committees also
could still tackle the prob-
lem. ; Without the “doc
fix,” AARP and other or-
ganizations argue, doctors
would be reluctant to treat
Medicare patients, putting
at risk necessary care for
many older adults. ; “If the
nearly 30 percent Medicare physician pay cut goes
into effect, we are concerned that there is going to be
an access problem,” says David Certner, AARP’s leg-
islative policy director. “We want to make sure that
Medicare beneficiaries will be able to find or keep
their doctor.” ; A longer-term solution would be
the best fix. AARP, as well as the American Medical
Association and others, has urged Congress to end
the stopgap measures, which have increased the size
of potential future cuts to
physician payments and
the cost of long-term re-
form, and address the
current flawed payment
formula. But it looks like
the beginnings of a more
comprehensive solution
may not appear until after
the 2012 elections.
; WHERE THEY STAND
To inform voters who plan to
participate in early presidential
caucuses, AARP invited leading
Republican contenders to express
their views on key 50-plus issues
in a video voters’ guide. ; Texas
Gov. Rick Perry, Reps. Michele
Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron
Paul of Texas, and former House
Speaker Newt Gingrich each
fielded questions on how to
strengthen Social Security and
Medicare for future generations
Presidential Hopefuls
Share Their Views
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Visit aarp.org/mgm
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; Flowers
AARP members can
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rangement is hand-
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Visit teleflora.com/
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and provide a more stable foundation for retirement security.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney and Georgia businessman Herman Cain declined to
participate. ; The voters’ guide
will air on Mediacom throughout
Iowa until the state’s caucus on
Jan. 3. The video also will be available to major cable companies in
other states with early caucuses.
; You can watch the video at
aarp.org/youearnedit.
