Medicare cuts official

Washington - Doctors will see a 5 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement rates next year. But the government will pay physicians more to counsel patients on ways to improve their health, according to the Associated Press.

Doctors are paid for 7,000 different services. The average cut for a particular service is 5 percent, but some services will be reduced more, while others will see increases. Payments will go up by about one-third for office visits, the most frequently billed service.

Nearly half of physicians face payment cuts ranging from 6 percent to 20 percent, according to the American Medical Association.