Political gridlock in the Senate fueled a legal requirement Monday for a 21 percent reduction in Medicare fees to doctors, who cautioned that they may have to limit care for seniors unless the reductions are reversed.

Democrats claim that they can reduce hundreds of billions of Medicare fees, with the faith and blessing of the Congressional Budget Office. However, republicans want that those spending cuts are totally mythical, and the CBO is a sucker for believing they'll happen.

The Obama administration is revealed to have ordered Medicare billing contractors to hold off processing claims for 10 business days. Medicare normally takes 14 days to pay doctors, so there would be no reduction in reimbursement if lawmakers move quickly.

Samuelson says, “The [health care reform] proposal is "responsible" because it's "paid for" through new taxes and spending cuts”.

The American Medical Association assailed lawmakers for permitting the cuts to proceed; revealing it depicts the political system is failing to address manageable problems with health care.

Republican leaders in Congress have pledged to support pass legislation to temporarily restore the funding. However, currently there's no consensus on a long-term solution.