The Debt Ceiling is not affecting Medicare. Yet.

On Wednesday, Congress and Obama came to an agreement about the current debt the United States is facing.  In that, Medicare has been spared from immediate budget cuts.  Due to the number of senior citizens that rely on the system, no immediate cuts will affect their budgets.

According to the LA Times, the government does expect to see doctors, hospitals, and Medicare providers begin to monitor their expenditures and cut back.  What this may indirectly do is affect the amount of time and money primary care physicians can spend seeing those with Medicare as their insurance providers.  And if a plan is not reached to reduce the debt by the end of the year,  [the debt plan] the plan requires the federal government to impose a 2% across-the-board reduction in payments to Medicare providers starting in 2013.

Do you think Medicare will ultimately be affected by the budget cuts? In your opinion, what can be done to avoid the 2% reduction?