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Photo by Grant HuangThe latest Medicare Trustees report is out and the news isn't good: Medicare is set to go bust in 2024, five years earlier than the 2029 date projected in last year's report. The Social Security program will run out of money earlier as well, in 2036 instead of 2037. Remember: The Medicare trust fund pays for Medicare Part A, which means hospital insurance is affected. Part B payments are funded entirely by tax revenue and premiums paid by beneficiaries themselves. Nevertheless, top physician advocacy groups leapt to the fore immediately after the report was released today.

Photo by Grant HuangYou would get a five-year vacation from the massive Medicare pay cuts called for by the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula -- if AMA President Cecil B. Wilson had his way. In his testimony before Congress, Wilson calls for a "three-pronged approach" to reforming Medicare's physician payment system. It starts with a permanent repeal of SGR, a five-year period of "stable payment updates that keep pace with the growth in medical practice costs" and a transition to new payment models.

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