Medicare Bill Passes House of Representatives

June 25, 2008 – The House of Representatives passed H.R. 6331, the "Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008," by a vote of 355 to 59. The House bill is very similar to the Senate bill, introduced by Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT) last week, which failed to gain the 60 votes necessary to initiate debate in the Senate.

Provisions of the House bill include a halt on the 10.6 percent Medicare physician payment cut, effective July 1, 2008, by extending the current 0.5 percent update through the end of 2008 and implementing a 1.1 percent update for calendar year 2009. The House would pay for the physician fix by cuts to the Medicare Advantage program and the development of "private fee-for-service" networks aimed at slowing the growth of that program.

The House reworked several elements of the Baucus bill to cut down on the overall cost, deleting a $1.1 billion "Medicare Improvement Fund" and removing several provisions that would offer bonus payments to doctors and other Medicare programs.

Outlook:  It is widely expected that the House passed bill will not become law, but rather the final legislation will be driven by the Senate where senators continue to debate the appropriate funding mechanism for the physician payment fix. The House vote demonstrates that members of Congress from both sides of the aisle do want to stave off the scheduled Medicare physician pay cuts, and we expect the Senate to negotiate legislation.  ASH will continue to keep its members apprised of all developments concerning this issue.