Physicians make final plea to fix fee schedule: a 4.4% cut in Medicare fees could hit next year unless Congress intervenes; pay for performance at issue.(News)

WASHINGTON -- Doctors will see a 4.4% cut in their Medicare fees under rules announcing next year's fee schedule, unless legislation pending in Congress supersedes those rules. Mark D. McClellan, M.D., administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced the fee cut during a press teleconference.

At a press conference sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the AAFP, and the American Osteopathic Association, C. Anderson Hedberg, M.D., president of the American College of Physicians, said, "Medicare beneficiaries rely upon their physicians not only for quality health care, but also for access to other parts of the ...