House panel to begin marking up ‘doc fix’ bill

{mosads}Energy and Commerce has been working on a proposal to replace Medicare’s payment formula, which currently calls for enormous cuts that Congress routinely votes to prevent. As the costs of each stopgap measure have added up, momentum has grown for a permanent replacement.

“We’ve been working on this now for more than a year,” Upton said in the interview.

The case for permanent repeal also got a boost this year from the Congressional Budget Office, which cut more than $100 billion off of its cost estimate for permanent repeal.

Still, the cost remains at roughy $140 billion over the next 10 years. Finding a way to pay for a new formula has been the sticking point in congressional negotiations.

Upton did not say how his committee’s bill would be paid for.