By Jillian Farrel -- March 1, 2010
Though the House of Representatives passed a new health care bill last week, the bill sits in the Senate with little momentum. The bill was created to prevent a 21 percent cut in Medicare fees to doctors, which could cause severe consequences for the elderly population.
As a result of the gridlock, the Senate's inaction has caused the cuts to in medical fees to doctors on Monday.
Republican Jim Bunning of Kentucky objected that the $10 billion measure would add to the deficit.
The Obama administration is now ordering Medicare billing associates not to pay any claims from doctors for the first ten days of March, with the intent the Senate will vote and physicians will be reimbursed.
The Medicare cuts are a result of a 1990s deficit reduction measure that Congress has continually waived over the years.
James Rohack, President of the AMA, believes the doctors' cuts are an example of why postponing action won't work when it comes to high medical costs in relation to a large uninsured population.
Rohack said in an interview "from the AMA's standpoint, if Congress does nothing, things are not going to get better by themselves. They are only going to get worse, and it's only going to become more of a crisis management situation."
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is scheduled to address the AMA on Tuesday.
