Another Bandaid for the SGR issue
The House of Representatives just passed the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 3962) by a vote of 417 to 1. This legislation contains provisions that block the 21.3 percent cut to Medicare physician payments until Nov. 30. The Senate passed identical legislation late last week. The president is expected to sign the bill into law shortly. Practices will then see a 2.2 percent increase to Medicare physician payment for claims with dates of service from June 1 through Nov. 30.
Why can’t the Obama Administration get this right and fix the underlying reimbursement problems asociated with the SGR? With the large number of uninsured that will now be insured under the new Obamacare plan we will need all healthcare providers, MDs, RNs, PAs, etc. in the sytem and productive to meet the increased demand anticipated. Any reimbursement changes that have the impact that the SGR could, would drive providers out of the sytem in great numbers. Let’s fix the SGR problem once and for all.
SGR Fix Stuck Because of Jobs Bill
There is one big problem with the currently proposed SGR fix, it is attached to a jobs bill. On Friday, June 18th the Senate tried to unbundle it and passed a bill that would have stopped the SGR cut for six months. The Senate did not address the bigger jobs bill. The Senate expressed concerns over the increasing decifit as the reason for not passing the jobs bill.
On Monday, June 21st the House leadership would not take up the Senate bill (SGR six-month patch) without a jobs bills. Within hours Nancy Pelosi released a statement saying, “I see no reason to pass this inadequate bill until we see jobs legislation coming out of the Senate. House Democrats are saying to Republicans in the Senate: Show us the jobs!”
At this point the SGR legislation is languishing because of concerns about a jobs bill. Meanwhile Medicare is processing claims that had been previously held with dates of service of 6/1/10 forward at the 21.3% reduced rate. These claims are being processed on a first in / first out basis (FIFO). The Senate and House are currently at a stalemate regarding jobs bill and SGR which unfortunately have been tied together.
