It's likely that the U.S. Senate will adjourn for the Memorial Day recess without voting to delay a 21% cut in Medicare reimbursements scheduled to take effect June 1, according to the American College of Radiology (ACR) in Reston, VA.
The Continuing Extension Act of 2010, enacted on April 15, 2010, extended a delay to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) cut to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) through May 31. But Congress has not managed to pass legislation to further extend the delay or to fix the SGR permanently.
On Thursday, U.S. House Democratic leaders cut $31 billion from the $145 billion American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (HR 4213) in an attempt to secure enough votes to pass it before members leave for the Memorial Day recess. A vote on the new version of the bill is scheduled for the House today, even though the likelihood that the Senate will consider the bill before the recess is slim, the ACR said.
To avoid disruption in the delivery of healthcare services to beneficiaries and payment of claims for physicians, nonphysician practitioners, and other providers of services paid under the MPFS, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has instructed its contractors to hold claims containing services paid under the MPFS for the first 10 business days of June, according to CMS spokesperson Ellen Griffith. This hold will only affect MPFS claims with dates of service June 1, 2010, and later, Griffith said.
Related Reading
Congress tries again to pass longer-term SGR fix, May 20, 2010
ACR asks Senate for Medicare fix, April 22, 2010
Obama signs bill averting 21% Medicare pay cut, April 16, 2010
Senate passes bill to delay SGR cut, April 15, 2010
Bill to delay SGR cut inches forward, April 14, 2010
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