Medicare cuts are part of the plan

by James C. Capretta
The Heritage Foundation

Both the President and congressional leaders have signaled that they will not allow a scheduled 21 percent reduction in Medicare physician fees to go into effect in 2010 or later years. But the President did not include a permanent fix in his health care plan.

This is ironic, because the plan includes scores of other Medicare provisions, touching on just about every possible feature of the program. The only provision seemingly left out of the package is a long-term fix for physician fees, perhaps Medicare's most pressing problem and one that all sides acknowledge must be addressed soon.