Administration: Don’t cut insurer payments

The Bush administration is threatening to veto legislation that protects doctors' Medicare payments at the expense of private insurers. Beginning July 1, reimbursement rates for doctors will drop 10.6% when they treat elderly and disabled Medicare patients. To prevent it, lawmakers are looking at finding at least $9 billion in savings from other Medicare programs over the next five years. The veto threat complicates efforts by lawmakers to find the needed savings to retain the current level of physician payments, or even raise them slightly.