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Big Medicare/TRICARE Cuts Delayed – For 60 Days

(MOAA Legislative Update – 18 Dec 2009)

The Senate passed the FY2010 Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 3326) – a mere 80 days after FY2010 actually started.

 

Included in that legislation is an emergency measure to delay a 21% cut in Medicare and TRICARE payments to doctors that otherwise would take effect on January 1.

 

The new legislation will only delay the Medicare/TRICARE payment cuts until the end of February.

 

That means two more months of wrangling in hopes that Hill leaders can work out a longer-term doctor payment fix. This is crucial to Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries, because a 21% payment cut would cause thousands of doctors to stop taking them as patients.

 

Nobody in Congress wants that to happen. But their continuing squabbles over how to fund a fix continues to put millions of beneficiaries at risk.

 

You can press your senators for action by sending them a MOAA-suggested message.