CBO: 'Doc fix' costs rise to $25 billion

A one-year "doc fix" has gotten nearly $7 billion more expensive, according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, obtained by The Hill.

Doctors are scheduled to see a 26.5 percent drop in their Medicare payments at the end of the year unless Congress steps in to delay the cut, as it does every year.

Delaying the cut and freezing doctors' payments for one year would cost $25 billion, according to CBO's latest estimates — up from $18.5 billion in its last projection.

Because the "doc fix" is now wrapped up with the end-of-year "fiscal cliff," there's a chance Congress might stop short of fixing it for a full year, postponing the Medicare cut — along with other parts of the fiscal cliff, the $600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to hit in January — until March, and trying to work out a longer solution then.

House Republican doctors are pushing for a full year, and say they're confident they'll get one.

A two-year doc fix would cost $41.5 billion, CBO said, while freezing doctors' payments for 10 years would cost nearly $244 billion.

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