The House of Representatives passed HR 5063 - legislation that would give CMS authority to fix the physician payment update formula. However, passage by the Senate may be stalled since the Senate wants payments for all providers addressed, not just physicians. The House added an amendment to bill HR 5063 which would give CMS the power to make adjustments in the physician payment update formula and head off a projected 4.4% cut for 2003.
In addition, the provision would give CMS the power to correct errors the agency made in fee-for-service enrollment projections for the years 1998 and 1999 that had an effect on physician payment updates. It is believed that if correct calculations had been used there probably would have been no 5.4% reduction for the 2002 conversion factor, nor would there be projected cuts for the next few years. Late on Nov. 14 the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5063, which removes a critical legal obstacle in the battle to fix the Medicare physician payment mistake. The Senate must now act immediately to avert drastic Medicare cuts that are threatening access to care for America'sseniors. The AMA is urging physicians and patients to contact their Senators through the AMA Grassroots Hotline at (800) 833-6354 or e-mail them through the AMA Washington Web site at www.ama-assn.org/grassroots.