U.S. News: Doctors' Payments Snag Health Bill
WASHINGTON -- A plan to end a program that would cut government payments to doctors is emerging as the flash point in the debate over whether President Barack Obama's effort to overhaul the health system would increase the federal budget deficit.</br></br>The proposal was crucial to winning support from the politically powerful American Medical Association -- but it has also made it tougher to argue that the health overhaul would pay for itself.</br></br>President Obama this week plans to continue his bid to drum up support for his goal to expand health insurance to the nation's 46 million uninsured Americans, after suffering some setbacks last week. On Capitol Hill this week, House members hope to pass their health bill through a third and final committee, and senators are expected to resume talks to hammer out an agreement on the only bipartisan health bill taking shape in Congress.</br></br>Administration officials on Sunday expressed confidence that lawmakers could pass legislation before Congress's August recess. "The chances are high" that Congress can meet the deadline, White House budget director Peter Orszag told "Fox News Sunday," but he added that lawmakers should amend the legislation to help contain costs.</br></br>Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," said costs associated with the legislation could be reduced significantly if lawmakers included the administration's recommendation to bolster the power of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC, to set Medicare payment policies.