Medicare Payment Cuts Averted For Six Months -SCHIP Funding Extended

The House on Wednesday voted 411-3 to approve legislation that would delay for six months a 10% physician fee cut and extend SCHIP through March 2009. It is likely that President Bush will sign the measure. The bill would increase Medicare physician fees by 0.5% for six months and would extend several programs that provide higher Medicare reimbursement rates to rural health care providers and hospital laboratories. The measure also would extend SCHIP funding through March 31, 2009. The legislation is intended to provide enough funding for states to maintain their current enrollment levels. Other provisions of the bill would extend Medicare programs set to expire this year, like the 5% physician scarcity area bonus and the 1.0 floor the work GPCI. The legislation does not address future physician fee cuts, which means the 10% reduction will take effect when the delay expires in June 2008 unless additional legislative action is taken. The approved Medicare legislation does not include the adoption of health IT as a way for physicians to increase their reimbursements. The AMCNO believes that this six-month temporary fix is not the answer for Medicare patients and physicians. The AMCNO continues to advocate for elimination of the flawed SGR formula. AMCNO will keep our members apprised of any updates on this issue.