U.S. President Barack Obama called Saturday for Congress to avert a planned 21 percent pay cut for doctors who see Medicare patients, saying the move, which would cost taxpayers billions of dollars, is necessary to insure the health of older Americans. The so-called "doc fix" has been stalled in the Senate, and if lawmakers do not approve the spending, the cuts will take effect next week. President Obama used his weekly Internet address to warn that if Republicans block a vote on the issue, it would "undoubtedly force some doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients altogether." "Now, I realize that simply kicking these cuts down the road another year is not a long-term solution to this problem," the president said. "For years, I have said that a system where doctors are left to wonder if they'll get fairly reimbursed makes absolutely no sense." "I'm absolutely willing to take the difficult steps necessary to lower the cost of Medicare and put our budget on a more fiscally sustainable path," he said. "But I'm not willing to do that by punishing hard-working physicians or the millions of Americans who count on Medicare."
