With little time remaining before Congress adjourns for the year, Senate leaders reached agreement on a Medicare package to fix a 10.1 percent reimbursement cut to physicians that would take effect January 1, 2008.  

In December 2007, the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families released a report on the impacts that the Administration's August decision to impose new federal limits on the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) will have on states and low-income children.  The new rules require that if a state seeks to expand SCHIP, they must first cover 95 percent of children in families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.  Twenty-three states will be directly impacted by the new directive when it takes effect in August 2008.  The report found that several states including Louisiana, Oklahoma, Indiana and New York have already cut back on their plans in anticipation of the new rule.  Report author Cindy Mann said, "[The Administration] is moving ahead without congressional authorization and using a back-door way to shut down SCHIP coverage for uninsured children in modest-income families."

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Negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on Medicare legislation seem to have stalled report Congressional staff.  With little time remaining before elected officials adjourn for recess, progress on the legislation that would delay a 10 percent physician fee cut scheduled for January 1st appears unlikely. 

Late Wednesday, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, announced the committee would not mark-up Medicare legislation and will instead begin direct negotiations with House Democrats on the package.  The legislation aims to prevent a 10 percent reimbursment cut to physicians that goes into effect January 1st.