Transcripts

Health Care Reform May Mean Health Care Cuts

SUSIE GHARIB: A major challenge facing health care reform is figuring out how to pay for it. One place the Obama administration is looking to save is Medicare, possibly cutting what the government pays for some services. The targets of those cuts have stepped up their lobbying efforts. And as Dana Bate reports, so has the entire health care industry.

DANA BATE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: These CT scans can help doctors diagnose disease by showing what's going on inside our bodies. But medical imaging is expensive which is why four years ago, Congress cut the Medicare reimbursement by almost 20 percent. Now, payments for imaging technology may be on the chopping block again. That's why lobbyist Tim Trysla formed the Access to Medical Imaging Coalition whose members range from the American College of Cardiology to the Lung Cancer Alliance. He wants lawmakers to hear their message.

TIMOTHY TRYSLA, EXEC. DIR., ACCESS TO MEDICAL IMAGING COALITION: What kind of health care system are we trying to deliver? We want to retain the quality or are we building a two-tiered system, where if you're disabled or over 65 on Medicare, you're not going to have access to these important tools.

BATE: The group won't disclose how much it's spending on lobbying. But so far this year, the entire health care sector has spent about $130 million to sway lawmakers. Health economist Jean Mitchell says niche groups like Trysla's want to be heard because profits are at stake. But rather than slashing payments, she thinks the entire system needs to be overhauled. Right now, providers overuse technology like medical imaging because that's where they make their money.

JEAN MITCHELL, HEALTH ECONOMIST, GEORGETOWN PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE: They pay you to do surgery and they pay you to do imaging and they pay you to do lab work, and all these things. You only make money if you poke people. And that's the wrong incentive.

BATE: Health expert Joe Antos points out that Congress hasn't even finished writing legislation, meaning all of this lobbying might be a little premature.

JOSEPH ANTOS, HEALTH CARE ANALYST, AEI: Until Congress becomes much more specific that, first of all, they're going to pay for reform and second of all, how they're going to pay for reform, these organizations that represent these kinds of interests really are just punching the air.

BATE: Congress is also hitting crunch time before the August recess, giving lawmakers less time to meet with lobbyists and making it hard for any message to get through. And when it comes to lobbyists, they all think their issue is the most important. Dana Bate, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.