Getting lucky again?

For the last few years, Medicare has scheduled cuts in physician reimbursement rates only to see those cuts turned into small increases after strong lobbying from the AMA. For 2006, with the pressure of the new Medicare Drug benefit and out-of-control spending across the board (not just in health care) it looked to me like the proposed 4.4% cut would stick.But now it looks like the Bush administration will support a reversal of the scheduled cuts, providing Congress can find the money and that physicians report quality measures. It's a bust for the budget but a boon for the pay-for-performance movement.