Never before has Congress allowed such a deep Medicare cut to go into effect at this scale, and complicating matters further is a public rift between Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) over the best course forward.
Pelosi remains committed to reversing the cut but was caught off guard last week when Reid suddenly opted to pull the Medicare issue out of a jobs and economic relief bill on which the two leaders have been working for months.
...Medicare itself is a potential loser in the impasse, since the health care program is already troubled by the large number of medical practices that no longer take its elderly patients, given the government’s fee schedule.
This means that many, many more doctors will opt not to provide services to Medicare recipients. I wonder if our national legislators will take notice, and see that nationalized health care simply doesn't work...