Congress Fails to Avert 21.3% Cut to Medicare Physician Reimbursement
June 01, 2010
On Friday, May 28 the House passed the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213) before leaving for the Memorial Day recess. The bill includes a 19 month SGR "fix" which would provide:
- 2.2 percent Medicare physician payment update for the remainder of 2010,
- 1 percent update for 2011,
- A return to the current SGR formula in 2012—which will result in an estimated 33 percent payment cut that year.
Unfortunately, the Senate adjourned for the recess without voting on the legislation, therefore the 21.3 percent Medicare physician payment cut is set to take effect on June 1.
However, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services already issued instructions to its contractors to postpone processing claims for Medicare physician services provided on or after June 1 for 10 days to provide time for Congress to complete its action and overturn the scheduled cut retroactive to June 1.
The College continues to advocate for a permanent solution and is asking its members to contact their legislators and reiterate that a permanent repeal of the SGR is absolutely essential to ensure Medicare patients' access to care.
