"Congress should review the President's budget requests and assure adequate funding for programs that are critical to the health care of low-income children and adults, the elderly and veterans," continued Dr. Kirk. "Congress should also move forward on comprehensive reforms to expand health insurance to the nearly 47 million Americans who now lack coverage."

The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization and the second-largest physician group in the United States. ACP members include 120,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internists specialize in the prevention, detection and treatment of illness in adults.

American College of Radiology Outlines Impact of Medicare Payment Cuts in Budget Proposal

The Bush Administration's $2.9 trillion budget proposal would increase funding for military efforts and attempts to reduce the federal deficit over the next 5 years by cutting funding for domestic programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.

Legislative and administrative proposals would cut $5.3 billion from the Medicare program in 2008 and nearly $76 billion over the next five years. Much of the savings would be attained through legislative proposals that would reduce the growth in services from 6.5 to 5.6 percent annually.

Hospitals would take the biggest hit under the market basket changes proposed by the administration, seeing a reduction of 0.65 percentage points off the market basket increase for inpatient care in each of the next five years, losing $13.8 billion in total as a result. Hospitals would see the same reduction in the market basket increase in Medicare payments for outpatient care for a savings of $3.4 billion. A reduction in hospital outpatient payments would affect radiologists affected by the DRA cuts by lowering the HOPPS payment rate for the technical component of advanced imaging services including MR, CT and PET.

Under the proposal, home health agency payments would be frozen at their current rates for the next five years for a savings of $9.6 billion, while skilled nursing facility payments would remain static in 2008 and be reduced 0.65 percent annually afterward, for a savings of $9.2 billion. Combinations of payment freezes and or 0.65 percent annual reductions for other services including inpatient rehabilitation, hospice, ambulatory surgical centers, and the ambulance fee schedule, as well as competitive bidding for clinical lab services make up the rest of the legislative proposals under the administration's plan to "foster productivity and efficiency."

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