Policy and Health Issues in the News Congress Offers a Temporary Solution for Medicare Physician Payment Cuts Congress has passed a temporary 0.5 percent Medicare payment increase as part of a bill to postpone a 10.1 percent rate reduction called for by the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula; the cut would have been effective January 1, 2008. Nonfinancial factors shown to prevent regular health care include lack of transportation; travel time, especially in rural settings; communication barriers; and lack of patient knowledge about obtaining health care.
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