Cardiologists battle Medicare over payment cuts

The Miami Herald reports:

In a striking example of the conflict between controlling healthcare costs and providing quality service, a group of South Miami cardiologists has written a letter to patients complaining that huge cuts in Medicare rates may force many heart specialists out of business or mean reduced services for their patients.

The doctors of South Miami Cardiology said that on Jan. 1 Medicare reduced ``reimbursement for cardiac services on average by 40 percent. This is unrelated to the current healthcare reform, which is planning an additional 21 percent reduction, effective March 1.''

In fact, none of the cuts are related to the healthcare reforms before Congress. They're Medicare actions required by existing laws in an attempt to moderate doctor pay while not going broke -- a painful issue that reveals how difficult any kind of reform can be when strongly entrenched interests disagree on what should be done.

Great moments in socialized medicine.