United Liberty

The House of Representatives will vote this week on a $300 billion “doc fix,” similar to what failed in the Senate last month:

Say you are a member of Congress who agrees that the cuts should be rescinded — that physician payments shouldn’t be reduced, that is — but also believes that the payments should not add to the national debt? Under the rule governing the House debate, you won’t be allowed to suggest any offsetting savings. Either you go for the doc fix and add massively to the deficit, or you torpedo the fix and wreak havoc in the Medicare program, with a 21 percent cut set to take effect Jan 1. Nice choice. It puts those who believe in both fiscal responsibility and averting these draconian cuts in an impossible situation.

By the way, don’t be fooled by the incredible shrinking “cost” of the fix. The official Congressional Budget Office estimate used to be $245 billion over 10 years. Now it’s $210 billion. In fact, the real hit to the budget will be closer to $300 billion. The lower CBO numbers stem primarily from the administration’s move to change the rules about which physician payments are subject to the cuts. The administration proposed a regulation to exempt drugs administered in doctor’s offices, such as chemotherapy, from the spending ceiling. That has the effect of making the cost of the fix look smaller, but it doesn’t change the ultimate drain on the treasury: Medicare will end up paying out the same amount of money.

A major boost this week for efforts to reform marijuana laws:

The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research.

The nation’s largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD.

In changing its policy, the group said its goal was to clear the way to conduct clinical research, develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative ways to deliver the drug.

(…)

The decision by the organization’s delegates at a meeting in Houston marks another step in the evolving view of marijuana, which an AMA report notes was once linked by the federal government to homicidal mania. Since California voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 1996, marijuana has moved steadily into the cultural mainstream spurred by the growing awareness that it can have beneficial effects for some chronically ill people.

Right now, 13 states allow marijuana to be prescribed for medicinal use. With this endorsement, I would expect that number to grow.

H/T: Ron Chusid

The Senate voted down a “doc fix” bill today, which was spending that was nothing more than a payoff to the American Medical Association and doctors:

A group of Democrats joined all Republicans in blocking a 10-year freeze of scheduled cuts to doctors’ Medicare payments, legislation that was considered important to getting a broader healthcare bill through later this year.

Prior to the 47-53 procedural vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) blamed the American Medical Association (AMA) for giving him bad information on the number of Republicans expected to support the measure.

Reid had offered the doctors group a deal to pass the “doctors’ fix” in return for support from the doctors on President Barack Obama’s broader healthcare initiative, which is slated for the Senate floor later this year.

The reason this was separated from the health care bill was make it appear to cost less. The 10 year cost of this bill was $247 billion and was not funded through spending cuts in other areas. So much for those phantom savings from ObamaCare.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wasn’t happy. Saying he was told he had the votes. He also made some off claims that were fact-checked by The Hill. Reid’s aides are quoted in the New York Times floating the possibility on an amendment to the health care bill, pushing the cost over $1 trillion.