That means that physician Medicare claims for services since June 1 will start being processed today at a 21.3 percent fee cut, but there are signs that the Senate may pass the fee fix in a separate bill as early as Friday.
Republican leaders who blocked the jobless package said they were amenable to passing a separate bill for the fee fix, in a deal worked out Thursday night by Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee, according to a report by the Hill.
Like the defeated bill, the new bill includes a 2.2 percent fee increase for physicians until Nov. 30. However, CongressDaily reports the House has recessed for the weekend, meaning the bill could not be passed until next week. That means payments will continue being processed with the 21.3 percent cut for at least several days.
Here’s what happened to the jobless benefits bill, which includes money for state Medicare programs. Democratic leaders had been confident their new amended jobless benefits bill would pass Thursday, because they had trimmed spending from an earlier version of a bill that was defeated by a wide margin on Wednesday. For example, the new bill reduced the length of the fee fix from 11 months to six.
However, Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) voted against it, and purported deals with Sens. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Scott Brown (R-Mass.) fell through. Opponents said the $120 billion package, which would add $55 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years, cost too much.
Read other Becker’s coverage on the physician fee fix.
Physician Fee Cut to Start Friday, Following Senate’s Decisive Defeat of Fee Fix, Other Spending Provisions
Senate Won’t Meet Tuesday Deadline for Fee-Fix
With Medicare Fee Cut Looming, Physicians Weigh Their Options
