EDITORIAL: Medicare: Permanent fix is necessary

June 29--Last week, Congress narrowly avoided a crisis of national proportions when it approved -- and the president signed -- a temporary delay of a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors.

El Paso physicians have been lobbying in Washington against the payments cut and for a permanent fix. That's the key. Congress has been staggering along for years, making temporary fixes at the last moment. That's not a healthy strategy.

It's not fair to doctors, who can't be sure they're going to receive adequate payments for seeing Medicare patients. In fact, this year Medicare had already started processing some claims at the 21 percent cut level.

The proposed cut also affects patients. According to lawmakers, physicians facing drastically cut revenues have already stopped seeing new Medicare patients.

Millions of Americans are dependent on Medicare to help pay for their medical care, and baby boomers will add millions more. And in places such as El Paso, with high poverty rates, doctors' refusal to see new Medicare patients could be devastating.

The temporary fix approved by Congress includes a 2.2 percent increase in payments to providers. But this is a temporary fix, like trying to stop a hemorrhage with a cotton ball.

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