Medicare patients at risk without doctors' fiscal cliff fix
November 30, 2012: 8:15 AM ET medicare doc fix Doctors could
start dropping Medicare patients in January if Congress doesn't
stop a measure that would slash doctors' reimbursement fees by
27%.  As lawmakers head into talks to avoid the fiscal cliff,
doctors are watching closely.  Thanks to bad timing, the
Medicare fees that doctors are paid for treating seniors has
gotten tangled up in the same high-stakes deal-making to avert
the fiscal cliff -- across the board tax hikes and spending cuts
that kick in January.  If Congress does nothing, doctors will be
reimbursed 27% less than current rates, starting Jan. 1. That
could spur thousands of doctors to stop seeing Medicare
patients.  It's not a situation any politician wants to see. So,
Congress will likely find a way to keep rates from going up in
2013, experts from both political parties say. The question is
when and how.  "This is something that's very bipartisan," said
Ariel Gonzalez, director of h