In Blow To Some Republicans, Funding Bill Allows For Medicare Doc Pay Cuts

Politico: Funding Bill Skips Measure To Avert Physician Pay Cuts, A Blow To GOP Doctors Caucus
The funding bill House Republican leaders released on Saturday does not avert cuts for doctors who treat Medicare patients — a blow to Republicans who had pushed for the changes that also could risk alienating members whose support will be needed to pass the legislation. Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), who co-chairs the GOP Doctors’ Caucus, said in recent months that Republican leadership was open to including the policy in the bill to keep the government funded through September, and that Trump administration officials had assured it would be addressed. (Leonard, King and Payne, 3/8)

Forbes: Doctors Outraged Republican Congress To Allow Medicare Pay Cut
The American Medical Association and a chorus of physician groups decried what they say is a decision by the Republican-controlled Congress to allow a devastating cut in Medicare payments to physicians. A funding bill released over the weekend by Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives will allow to go forward a 2.8 percent cut in payments physicians receive from the Medicare health insurance program to treat elderly patients. (Japsen, 3/9)

MedPage Today: MedPAC Says Agents Make More Money Enrolling Clients In Medicare Advantage
A report released Thursday showing how health plan agents receive hefty financial incentives to steer beneficiaries into Medicare Advantage (MA) plans -- rather than traditional Medicare and Medigap -- prompted several members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to call for dramatic changes in the enrollment system. "I think we have a system here ... that is inherently flawed," said Commissioner R. Tamara Konetzka, PhD, a public health sciences professor at the University of Chicago, during a MedPAC public meeting. (Clark, 3/7)

In Medicaid news —

The Washington Post: Republican Medicaid Cuts Could Shutter Rural Hospitals, Maternity Care
Rural hospitals across the United States fear that massive Medicaid cuts Republicans would have to consider under the current House budget proposal could decimate maternity services or shutter already struggling medical facilities in communities that overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump. Nearly half of all rural hospitals nationwide operate at a deficit, with Medicaid barely keeping them afloat. (Weber, 3/8)

The Hill: Scott Perry Says No One ‘Legitimately’ On Medicaid Will Lose Coverage
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) suggested on Sunday that no one “legitimately” on Medicaid will lose their coverage due to GOP efforts to cut spending. In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” anchor Chris Stirewalt noted that, for Republicans to achieve the kind of steep spending cuts they have targeted, cuts will likely have to target more than just waste, fraud and abuse. Stirewalt noted that the Office of Management and Budget has said only about 4 percent of federal payments are improper, which, Stirewalt noted, accounts for just more than $31 billion in Medicaid. (Fortinsky, 3/9)

Politico: Trump Voters Oppose Medicaid Cuts, Poll Finds
A majority of President Donald Trump’s voters don’t want Congress to cut Medicaid, a new poll has found, underscoring the politically sensitive decision GOP lawmakers face as their leaders explore proposals to slash spending on the health insurance program for low-income Americans. More than 60 percent of Republicans and Trump voters say that Medicaid is “very important” to their local community, according to a KFF poll released today. And support for cutting the program is relatively low among conservative groups, with 33 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of Trump supporters favoring cuts. (Hooper and Cirruzzo, 3/7)