By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Congress agreed Monday to a one-month delay in Medicare payment cuts to doctors, giving a short-term reprieve to a looming crisis over treatment of the nation’s elderly.
The House, in approving by voice vote the bill passed by the Senate earlier this month, postponed a 23 percent cut in doctors’ pay scheduled to take effect Dec. 1. That gives lawmakers a month to come up with a longer-term plan to overhaul a system that in recent years has bedeviled Congress, angered doctors and jeopardized health care for 46 million elderly and disabled.
“This bill is a stopgap measure to make sure that seniors and military families can continue to see their doctors during December while we work on the solution for the next year,” said Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., chairman of the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee.