White House opposes use of Medicare Advantage indirect medical education funds as offset in Medicare bill, Sen. Baucus says

Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Tuesday after a meeting of committee leaders said that the White House opposes the use of a decrease in Medicare Advantage indirect medical education funds to offset the cost of a provision in a broader Medicare bill that would delay for 18 months a scheduled 10.6% reduction in physician reimbursements, CQ HealthBeat reports.

The reduction will take effect on July 1 without congressional action. Baucus recently said that the delay would cost between $15 billion and $18 billion over five years.

Health insurers that operate MA plans receive IME funds to pay for extra costs associated with teaching hospitals. The committee, which has not completed a draft of the bill, has considered a decrease in IME funds to offset the cost, as well as other offsets, Baucus said. According to CQ HealthBeat, the committee, which plans to meet on Wednesday to discuss the legislation, appears to "have much work left to do on the measure."

Other Possible Provisions

Baucus said the White House has proposed few offsets for the legislation, "which means a very narrow, slimmed-down bill." He said that the legislation might include a provision to require electronic prescribing in Medicare.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), a member of the committee, on Tuesday at a conference sponsored by the National Community Pharmacists Association said that he will seek to add a provision to the bill that would reduce the time in which Medicare prescription drug plans must reimburse pharmacies. In addition, Roberts said that he will seek to add to the legislation a package (S 1605) of provisions on Medicare reimbursements for health care providers in rural areas (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 5/20).