The Debate Over How to Pay Medicare Doctors, Explained in 75 Seconds
Melissa Quinn /
The latest debate on Capitol Hill has created an unlikely alliance between the House’s most powerful Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and it centers on a little-known formula that determines how much Medicare doctors are paid each year.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have agreed to a deal that would replace the Sustainable Growth Rate—the formula that governs payments for Medicare physicians—and implement it with a new payment system.
Details of the deal haven’t yet been released, but already the proposal is pitting conservative lawmakers against their Republican and Democratic colleagues. Watch this video to better understand the debate.