U.S. Senate Democratic leaders today dropped a plan to boost payments to Medicare doctors after 13 Democrats joined all 40 Republicans to block the bill. The “doc fix” would have permanently repealed the Medicare payment formula that now has physicians facing a 21 percent pay cut in January if Congress fails to act.

The bill to repeal the formula would cost some $247 billion over the next 10 years, and Republicans and some Democrats balked at adding that cost to the nation’s deficit.

Still, most lawmakers agree the payment formula, which requires substantial annual cuts in Medicare reimbursement for doctors, is problematic. The formula is tied to the goals of the 1997 deficit-reduction law.

Almost every year, Congress votes a temporary fix repealing what has become a draconian formula in order to prevent physicians from being paid too little. If payments are unduly low, doctors will begin turning away Medicare patients, experts say.

The American Medical Association and AARP lobbied strenuously for the permanent repeal of the formula.

“AARP is deeply disappointed that legislation to preserve seniors’ access to their doctors was blocked in the Senate  today,” said David Sloane, senior vice president of AARP.  He said the Senate’s failure to permanently fix the flawed formula for doctor payments undermines doctors’ confidence in the Medicare program, adding “AARP will keep fighting for a legislative solution” to the problem.

“Congress created the Medicare physician payment system, and Congress needs to fix this problem once and for all,” the AMA said in a statement after the vote.