Long-term care providers could get an indication Monday
night just how tough it could be to receive a favorable Medicare pay hike next
year. The president is expected to unveil a proposal for changing the formula
for how doctors are paid during his State of the Union address.
Long-term care leaders have feared that Congress will cut
into their available pool of funding for Medicare pay increases. Physicians
were in line for a 10% reimbursement cut at the end of 2007, but late
legislation granted them a 0.5% increase for six months instead. Now, they want
more.
Because Medicare trustees last year issued a funding
warning, the president is bound by law to send a Medicare savings plan to
lawmakers after he releases his 2009 budget proposal early next month. Many
observers are skeptical that the president, facing a Congress controlled by the
opposing party, will be able to advance much of his healthcare agenda - except
when it comes to physician pay increases, which both major political parties
agree on.