Donald B. Marron writes: "If Congress enacts a $245 billion doctor fix without paying for it, why should anyone believe it would ultimately allow the payment cuts and tax increases included in the health bills?" That's just a taste of Marron's excellent blog entry on the "Medicare Doctor Fix" over at E21. You see, Medicare's payment rates are set to decline by more than 20 percent in 2011, and there's no way Congress is about to let that happen. The various House health care reforms restore the cuts completely at a price tag of $245 billion over ten years. The Baucus bill, according to Marron, has a one-year "patch" for $11 billion. But there's a separate Senate bill, sponsored by Debbie Stabenow, which includes a full restoration at a cost of $247 billion. As Marron points out, while the White House is adamant that health care reform is "paid for," Stabenow's fix is not. "All $245 billion would thus flow straight into our deficits," he writes. All of which is reason to be skeptical that the Medicare cuts promised under Sen. Baucus's White-House-approved version of health care reform, along with a health bill that actually "bends the cost curve" of Medicare spending, will ever come to pass. Side Note: E21 is a great clearing-house for research and commentary related to the economic crisis and the future of American economic policy.