Face the Facts | Medicare fee reductions

Another interesting daily fact and graphic from Face the Facts USA:

FACT: Physicians treating Medicare patients face a 27 percent cut in fees in 2013 unless Congress again overrides the law. Twelve percent of the Medicare budget, or $67.6 billion, goes to doctors. Congress passed a law in 1997 mandating reductions in doctors’ fees to put a brake on Medicare costs, but has routinely overridden it ever since in a legislative maneuver known as the “doc fix.” If the “doc fix” is not repeated, the reduced payments to Medicare doctors are expected to save $11 billion in fiscal 2013. If the override votes continue, it is expected to add $316 billion to the federal deficit over 10 years.