Republicans' Plan to Cut Medicare Funding Squeezes Doctors

It appears that Illinois doctors might need to take their attention off of Springfield and spend a little more time worrying about Washington.

While doctors were busy marching on Springfield, the Bush administration was busy drafting plans to cut Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors by 4.4%, according to the NY Times:

The Bush administration is headed for a clash with the nation's doctors over a federal plan to cut their Medicare fees by 4.4 percent next year, even as the government tries to measure the quality of care they provide...

...Medicare's trustees said the formula would produce cuts totaling roughly 25 percent from 2006 to 2011, while doctors' costs are expected to rise 15 percent."

But the Administration says not to worry, the cuts will encourage doctors to practice not defensive medicine, but offensive medicine, performing procedures they wouldn't normally perform so they can bill Medicare more:

"Moreover, they (the Administration) said, doctors often respond to such cuts by performing more services, so their income does not necessarily fall."

Meanwhile, the AP reports that one doctor in rural North Dakota is being paid in jelly. I'm not kidding.

So, someone remind me again what's wrong with Dr. Quentin Young's plan to provide coverage for every man, woman and child in America for a fraction of what we are paying now?