WASHINGTON — House aides released an outline late Friday of an emerging bipartisan deal shielding physicians from Medicare cuts and pumping more funds to popular programs for children’s health and community health centers.
In a first hint of some of the measure’s fine print, the bare-bones summary said lawmakers would raise money partly by targeting Medicare providers who are tax scofflaws. In the winner’s category, the agreement would also help Tennessee hospitals serving large numbers of poor patients and makers of medical equipment who bid for Medicare business.
The one-page document provides no price tags and few specifics. But as lawmakers, congressional aides and lobbyists have said for days, it would cost roughly $210 billion over a decade, with around $140 billion financed by adding to federal deficits, aides said Friday. The remaining $70 billion would be split about evenly between Medicare providers and beneficiaries.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have been seeking the agreement for two months in hopes of resolving a problem that has haunted Congress for years.
As medical inflation soared, a formula in a 1997 budget law aimed at reining in Medicare costs has ended up threatening doctors with deep cuts in Medicare reimbursements that lawmakers have staved off every year since 2003. Physicians have warned the constant threat of cuts could prompt them to stop treating Medicare patients.