Congress will get a little extra time to prevent a threatened 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors.
Technically, the cut was to take effect Wednesday.
But the Department of Health and Human Services said it will hold off processing claims at the lower rate until April 15.
The House has overwhelmingly passed a bill to repeal the 1990s budget formula that requires the Medicare cuts. But the Senate left on its spring break before taking action. President Barack Obama says he would sign the House bill.
The incentives in the permanent “doc-fix” legislation, which now has overwhelming bipartisan support from both houses of Congress and the president, will not, by themselves, drive physicians toward value-based compensation schemes.
Statement from PCPCC Chief Executive Officer Marci Nielsen
WASHINGTON - The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) congratulates the House of Representatives for passing the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015 (HR 1470). Today’s vote was an incredible sign of bipartisanship, with 397 members voting in favor of the bill. Now, we are urging the Senate to follow the House’s lead and officially repeal SGR and transition to a new, dual system intended to reward quality of care.
The U.S. House Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favor of scrapping Medicare's sustainable growth-rate formula, passing a permanent doc fix. The measure next goes to the Senate for a vote. President Barack Obamahas indicated he will sign the measure.
President Barack Obama says he's ready to sign good bipartisan legislation to fix Medicare's doctor payment problem, without endorsing any specific legislation.
Without a fix, doctors face a 21% cut in Medicare fees. It's the consequence of a 1990s budget law that Congress has repeatedly waived.
Bill calls for stiffer fines for tax delinquent Medicare service providers.
Less than a week after bipartisan House leaders introduced a bill to repeal the sustainable growth rate, the committee on Tuesday released more detailed plans on how it will pay for the $200 billion bill.
The “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015” calls for stiffer fines for tax delinquent Medicare service providers, keeping reimbursement foracute care providers to 1 percent and by upping premiums for wealthier Medicare beneficiaries.
The bill also extends funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years, but does not increase it.
The deal is as politically remarkable as it is substantive: a long-term plan to finance health care for older Americans, pay doctors who accept Medicare and extend popular health care programs for children and the poor. It was cobbled together by none other than House Speaker John A. Boehner and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the leader of House Democrats, who rarely agree on anything, with the apparent blessing of a majority of their respective members.
This week offers a make-or-break moment for Republican leaders on Capitol Hill.
After stumbling several times since taking control of Congress earlier this year, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have an opportunity to demonstrate on two important fronts that Republicans can effectively govern.
But it remains unclear if they will be able to deliver.
An extraordinary bipartisan accord between House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is letting both parties exhale as they move toward permanently ending the nagging annual threat of Medicare cuts to physicians. Yet each side is bragging about more than that.
