Long-Term Fix Is Elusive in Medicare Payments

By ROBERT PEAR Published: July 13, 2008, New York Times Congress has blocked a cut in payments to doctors but has not solved the problem that caused the cut, experts say. When actual spending exceeds the goals, payments to doctors are supposed to be reduced. If Congress steps in to block a cut in one year, Medicare recoups the money by making deeper cuts in future years. Under the bill passed by Congress last week, doctors would face a cut of more than 20 percent in 2010. The purpose of the formula is to control the growth of Medicare spending for doctors’ services. But individual doctors are not rewarded or penalized for their own performance.