HC Reform Update from Mark Sanna: The House on Monday is scheduled to take up a $1-billion measure delaying by one month a 23% cut in federal Medicare reimbursements to doctors. The payment reduction is scheduled to go into effect Wednesday if members of the House don't act. The Senate approved the legislation earlier this month. A 1997 law requires that doctors' Medicare rates be adjusted each year based on the health of the economy, with the goal of keeping the program in the black. Rate cuts have been blocked 10 times in the last eight years, including four times this year. Some senators have said they are working on a measure that would extend the current payment rates through 2011.