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ARMED FORCES NEWS |
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In a last minute move, Congress cancelled a 5.1 percent cut in Medicare (and thus Tricare) payments to providers that was to kick in on Jan. 1, 2007. Conference negotiators agreed on Dec. 7 to keep Medicare payments at the 2006 rates, and both houses passed the issue on Dec. 9 just before Congress adjourned. The measure also contains a provision to pay medical providers an additional 1.5 percent in the second half of 2007 if they report data on the quality of their care using measures specified by the government. The planned 5.1 percent cut was expected to cause a number of providers to stop accepting new Medicare-eligible patients or to opt out of Medicare entirely. The fix for 2007 ignores future statutory requirements to slash Medicare payments by more than 30 percent over the next seven years. |
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