Senate, House Leadership discuss Medicare physician pay fix with Obama's healthcare team

Senate and House leaders, along with committee staffers, have been discussing with members of President-elect Barack Obama's healthcare team the possibility of cutting $100 billion from the cost of permanently fixing Medicare physician payments by eliminating from the payment formula drugs administered by doctors. Under the sustainable growth rate formula, physicians face a Medicare payment reduction annually, but Congress usually passes a measure to avoid the cut. However, lawmakers next year hope to permanently eliminate the cuts.