On Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill temporarily halting the 23% cut in physician payments under the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, scheduled to take effect on December 1. The Senate has already passed the bill, so it now goes to President Barack Obama for signing.
The bill, called the Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010, will extend the existing 2.2% update to physician payments and delay a 21% cut from the original deadline of November 30 until December 31.
The bill will provide a path to both a short- and longer-term solution to the broken Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS); Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) plan to pursue a yearlong solution to the formula that could be put into place before the month-long patch expires.
Related Reading
Senate passes 1-month SGR extension, November 19, 2010
Congress tries to wrangle another SGR fix, November 18, 2010
Obama signs SGR fix after House passes 6-month delay, June 25, 2010
House holds SGR fix hostage to jobs bill, June 22, 2010
CMS begins paying claims at lower SGR rate, June 21, 2010
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