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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Medicare Doctor Payment Fix Headed to President's Desk

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Monday, April 27, 2015   

CHEYENNE, Wy. - The amount physicians are paid under Medicare is about to change. For more than 10 years, Congress has been debating reimbursement formulas and passing legislation that only provided temporary fixes. But a more permanent solution is on its way to the president's desk. Tim Summers, state director at AARP Wyoming, says stability in those rates is important in a state with a small number of doctors.

"We have long advocated to help ensure Medicare beneficiaries can rest assured that they'll be getting high-quality care, and be able to keep their physicians each year," says Summers.

The reimbursement schedule is being changed to focus on quality, rather than paying more for more tests and procedures, a change Summers says is key to improving care and controlling costs. But the changes do face controversy. Some physicians have voiced concern they'll lead to lower payments and are threatening to drop patients, and AARP had pushed for an amendment to lift Medicare's cap on physical therapy - but that was rejected.

Summers says if Congress had not acted, physician Medicare payments would have automatically been cut by 21 percent. He adds that the solution crafted was bipartisan and the "no" votes were few.

"This new act will reward the quality rather than the quantity of care, which we believe will be the right way to support the Medicare population," Summers says.

The physician payment plan is part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.


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