I never realized just how much the docs received from Medicare until my surgery in May of this year. When the EOB arrived I looked. The hospital received full payment, the surgeon received about 30% of the charge which I didn't feel was a too high charge for his time consider he spent 4 hours on my repair job. So, what can this mean for those of use who use Medicare? Currently I can see any doc I choose, ONLY because I have a supplemental plan with United Heathcare. So, will these proposed cuts mean that I may not have the accessibility I currently have?

Doctors brace for possible big Medicare pay cuts

The Washington Post, By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, The Associated Press, Saturday, November 13, 2010; 12:16 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...111202811.html

The scheduled cuts - the result of a failed system set up years ago to control costs - have raised alarms that real damage to Medicare could result if the lame-duck Congress winds up in a partisan standoff and fails to act by Dec. 1. That's when an initial 23 percent reduction would hit.

Neither Democrats nor newly empowered Republicans want the sudden cuts, but there's no consensus on how to stave them off. The debate over high deficits complicates matters, since every penny going to make doctors whole will probably have to come from cuts elsewhere. A reprieve of a few months may be the likeliest outcome. That may not reassure doctors.