Michigan physicians fight new tax

MICHIGAN physicians are fighting a receipt tax in the state's 2010-11 budget proposal. The three percent tax on gross receipts would bring Medicaid reimbursements up to Medicare levels, but physician groups aren't in favor. "This plan would make our health care system less accessible and more expensive," says Michigan State Medical Society President Richard Smith, MD.

CALIFORNIA's attorney general is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a 2009 court judgment reversing a 10 percent state cut in Medicaid reimbursement. An appellate court upheld an injunction from a lower court that found that the cuts would irreparably harm access to healthcare for nearly 7 million Californians and were enacted in violation of federal Medicaid laws.