Congress Announced a Doc Fix. What's a Doc Fix Again?

Bloomberg BusinessWeek: “Doc fix” is shorthand for an annual ritual in Washington that staves off cuts to the rate physicians get paid by Medicare, the federal health insurance program for Americans over 65. Congress passed a budget law in 1997 to slow Medicare spending, partly by linking targets for doctor pay to economic growth through a formula called the “sustainable growth rate” (pdf). If Medicare spends more than the target one year, it’s supposed to lower its reimbursements for physician services the next year, to keep overall spending in check.

Read article