The House of Representatives voted Nov. 29 to approve a 1-month extension of current Medicare physician fee schedule.
If signed by President Obama, which is expected, physicians will avoid a 23% reduction in fees mandated by Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) and slated to go into effect Dec. 1.
However, unless Congress takes additional action before the Christmas recess, physicians face a 25% cut in fees on January 1.
The House vote follows the Senate’s Nov. 18 approval of a 1-month extension contained in the Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010. That bill was introduced in the Senate by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking minority member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
The estimated cost for the 1-month extension is $1 billion. The Senate legislation pays for that by using savings from a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy that reduces Medicare payments for multiple therapy services provided to patients in 1 day. Therapists would not be squeezed, however; the proposal would also shrink the called-for reduction from 25% to 20%, according to Sen. Baucus and Sen. Grassley.
In a statement, American Medical Association President Cecil B. Wilson said that the short-term delay "helps ensure that physicians can continue to care for seniors for the next month." But he added "the AMA urges Congress to build on the bipartisan action that delayed this year’s cut and act in December to stop the cut for 1 year so that Congress has time to work on a long-term solution."