Yesterday, the House and the Senate voted to override Bush’s veto of a bill that would cut Medicare reimbursements to physicians. Cuts in reimbursements are correlated to the decrease of physicians who see patients on Medicare, leaving the elderly less access to health care. The funds to support this bill will come out of the budget for private Medicare plans—which seems to upset Human and Health Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. But the government pays more for private plans that result in additional financial burden on the elderly, and there is no evidence that private plans are necessarily better. (Not to mention the profit-seeking and ethically questionable behavior of private insurers and their agents.)
This, by no means, is a long-term fix for Medicare spending and coverage. But it is a necessary move. Leaving people unable to get health care while you fix the system is not the way to go.
If you’re one of those strange people who care for legalese (like me), you can read the proposal of and the revisions to the bill that was passed yesterday.
