Medicare Physician Payment Cut Delayed Until June 1, 2010

On Thursday, April 15, President Barack Obama signed HR 4851, the “Continuing Extension Act of 2010,” into law. This measure reinstates Medicare physician payments to where they were on March 31, and yet again postpones the 21.3-percent cut that was supposed to take effect in 2010.

This most recent extension of 2009 payment rates will continue through the end of May, and it will be applied retroactively to all physician services provided to Medicare patients in April. The Senate approved the legislation at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday by a bipartisan vote of 59-38. The House subsequently passed the measure after 8 p.m. by a bipartisan vote of 289-112.

Thursday was the technical expiration date of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) hold on processing April claims, which was put in place to avoid implementing the 21.3-percent cut. However, with congressional action so imminent, it is believed that few claims actually were processed at the lower payment rate. CMS has said that any claims that were paid according to the 21.3-percent cut will be reprocessed automatically, and payment adjustments will be made accordingly. No physician action is required.

The Florida Medical Association (FMA) urges all members to join the fight for Medicare physician payment reform by visiting StopMedicareMeltdown.com. The FMA recently launched the site as part of a national effort urging Congress to replace the broken Medicare physician payment system. The site contains materials you can use to educate your patients, friends and colleagues on the issue, as well as tools to lobby Florida members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. If you haven’t already done so, please add your name to the Million Signature Campaign to fix Medicare via the online petition here.

In the meantime, the FMA will continue providing members with the most up-to-date information as the situation unfolds in Washington.

Last Revision: April 22, 2010