Medicare Physician Payment Fix – Senate Plans to Vote Before July 4 Recess

June 26, 2008 – The Senate plans to vote on Medicare legislation H.R. 6331 (the "Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008") before the July 4 recess. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is determined to vote on this bill, and voting could occur as soon as Friday or possibly over the weekend. The bill would halt the 10.6 percent Medicare physician payment cut scheduled to take effect July 1, 2008, by extending the current 0.5 percent update through the end of 2008 and implementing a 1.1 percent update for 2009.

However, there may be strong opposition preventing passage or even a vote on this bill. There is bipartisan agreement and a sense of urgency that a Medicare physician payment cut needs to be averted. The dispute is over funding for the fix, with strong presidential and Republican opposition to using monies cut from Medicare Advantage plans.

The pending bill is very similar to S. 3101, a bill which Senate Finance Committee Chair, Max Baucus (D-MT), introduced last week. Senator Baucus is very supportive of H.R. 6331, which passed the House of Representatives by a wide bipartisan margin on June 25, putting increased pressure on the Senate to take action. Insight on the differences between the Senate and House bills is available on the ASH Web site.

Outlook: There is a good chance the Senate will pass a Medicare physician fix by the July 1 deadline. If this does not occur, the legislation will not move forward until after the July 4 holiday. It is important to note that even if the bill is passed before July 1, physicians should anticipate some delay in CMS implementation of the payment fix. ASH will continue to keep its members apprised of all developments concerning this important issue.