The other day an analyst of Obamacare noted that Congress would eventually add back the phony cuts in Medicare reimbursement to doctors that were used to balance the books. The Senate isn’t waiting too long. AP:

Senate Democrats hope first to win quick approval for a bill that grants doctors a $247 billion increase in Medicare fees over a decade but raises federal deficits in the process, officials said Wednesday.

By creating a two-bill approach, Democrats intend to claim the more comprehensive health care measure meets President Barack Obama’s conditions — that it will neither add to deficits nor exceed $900 billion in costs over 10 years.

If approved and signed into law, the legislation would avert a 21 percent reduction in Medicare fees paid to doctors that is scheduled to take effect in January as well as additional cuts in future years.

Lawmakers frequently draft budgets that assume payment rates for doctors treating Medicare patients will fall rather than rise, part of a sleight of hand set of assumptions to make deficits appear smaller than they actually are. They then convene the following year and restore the money…

Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said…the measure does not need to be offset by spending cuts or higher taxes because “it does not increase spending. It simply restores a more honest picture of what future physician spending will actually be.”

They think the American people are stupid, and maybe they’re right.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 5:23 am and is filed under business, Democrats, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.