Overcoming opposition from one holdout lawmaker, the Senate has passed a $10 billion bill that further postpones a 21% cut in Medicare payments that went into effect March 1. The cut is mandated due to a flaw in the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula used to calculate Medicare payments.
The Senate passed the legislation in a 78-19 vote on March 2, surmounting the threat of a filibuster from Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) -- who opposed the fact that the bill's cost was not being offset by cuts to other areas of the federal budget -- and delaying Medicare payment cuts until April 1, according to Cynthia Moran, assistant executive director for government relations at the American College of Radiology (ACR) in Reston, VA.
It's been a wild ride on the road to fixing the SGR. On February 25, the House of Representatives passed legislation that included a postponement of the SGR rate cut, but a similar bill in the Senate stalled due to Bunning's opposition.
In the interim, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has asked contractors to hold claims payable under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for the first 10 business days of March. With the passage of this new bill, CMS will most likely just continue this policy until April, Moran told AuntMinnie.com.
"We're assuming that CMS will instruct contractors to hold claims until April 1, which gives everyone a couple weeks into April," she said.
But there's more: Congress is busy working on other proposals that would extend the delay for days, months, or even through the end of the year, Moran said. In fact, later this week, the Senate is expected to vote on a bill introduced March 1 by Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Max Baucus (D-MT) that would cost $150 billion and would retroactively delay the Medicare cuts for seven months.
Fixing the SGR formula has been sticky for two reasons -- its cost and the current overall healthcare reform battle, Moran said.
"[Fixing the SGR] is extremely expensive," she said. "And Congress can't just write a check and be done with it, since it's required to find money to offset the cost. The second piece is that with the SGR formula unresolved, physician organizations are more inclined to stay engaged in pushing for comprehensive reform."
By Kate Madden Yee
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
March 3, 2010
Related Reading
Senate fails to avert 21% Medicare cut, February 26, 2010
Senate works to extend SGR deadline, February 9, 2010
Medical imaging 2010: Is the sky falling? January 12, 2010
Obama signs SGR fix legislation, December 23, 2009
SNM supports SGR rate fix, December 23, 2009
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