A day before Congress’ one-week recess, the back-benchers forced House leaders to remove $80 billion in spending from the fee-fix bill, including extended COBRA benefits for the unemployed and Medicaid assistance to states.
The House then passed the fee-fix, which included fee increases for physicians over two years, and sent it to the Senate. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wanted to cut the length of the fix so it would be less expensive and, even then, couldn’t guarantee it would pass.
The bill never came up for a Senate vote before recess. Although the 21.3 percent fee cut has technically started, CMS announced it would not process claims for 10 business days. That gives Congress a week to pass some kind of fee-fix, if only a one-month patch.
Furious over Congress’ clumsy handling of the fee-cut issue, the AMA will launch a multi-million and campaign to convince lawmakers to pass a longer-term fee-fix when they return next week.
“The AMA will not sit silent while Senate inaction guts Medicare’s physician foundation,” AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, said in an AMA release.
Read Kaiser Health News‘ report on the physician fee fix.
Read the AMA’s release on the physician fee fix.
