An Unappealing ‘Doc Fix’
It’s understandable why House Republican leaders are enthusiastic about the “doc fix” legislation that they cobbled together with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The legislation will finally repeal for good the unworkable “sustainable growth rate” (SGR) mechanism that has caused so many legislative headaches for the past 15 years. And in the process of jettisoning the SGR, Republicans will also get Democratic support for some modest reforms in Medicare to partially offset the higher costs of added spending on physician services. So, from the Republican leadership’s perspective, they are saying good riddance to the despised SGR (and pleasing some doctors in the process), and getting Democrats to help them pass long-sought adjustments in Medicare.
So, isn’t that a two-fer?
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