2010-04-15
On April 1, legislation establishing the short-term reprieve
of a 21.3 percent Medicare cut originally scheduled to take effect in January expired
after the U.S. Senate failed to approve a House-passed bill that would have
extended 2009 payment rates a third time through the end of the month. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) subsequently instructed its contractors to refrain from
processing physician claims at the reduced rates for 10 working days,
anticipating that Congress would quickly be able to pass another short-term
extension of the 2009 rates and avoid implementation of the cut. On April 15, Medicare’s hold on physician
claims officially expired. While some
carriers have the capacity to hold claims for an additional day or two and
still meet Medicare law’s prompt payment requirements, others will begin
processing claims on April 15 at the reduced rates.
Meanwhile, the Senate returned to Washington from its Easter
Recess to again consider the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (HR 4851). That bill, as passed earlier by the House of
Representatives, would avoid the 21.3 percent Medicare physician payment cut by
extending the 2009 rates through the end of April, as well as other expiring
federal programs such as unemployment and COBRA benefits. The Senate failed to pass HR 4851 before
because of a controversy over its designation as an emergency measure, which does not
require identifying how it would be funded.
On April 14, the Senate cleared a procedural hurdle by
rejecting a point of order that would have stripped the bill of its emergency
designation. Senator George Voinovich
(R-OH) crossed party lines and joined with Democrats to defeat the procedural
motion by a vote of 60-40. The vote also
waived the budgetary point of order against an amendment offered by Senator Max
Baucus (D-MT) that would further extend the reprieve against the Medicare
payments through the end of May.
It is now expected that the Senate will vote this week to
approve restoring the physician payment cuts. Those Senators who object to
designating HR 4851 as an emergency measure may continue to take advantage of
the many procedural hurdles available in the Senate to delay its passage, so
debate may extend to or beyond the weekend.
In addition, passage of the Baucus amendment or any other changes would
require the measure to be approved again by the House. However, ASH believes some short-term
reprieve will be agreed to and passed.
ASH
continues to advocate for a long-term solution to provide appropriate Medicare
physician payment rates. Please join ASH’s
advocacy campaign today to urge the Senate to pass legislation to
restore the physician payment cuts.
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