Back in the News- Medicare 23% Pay Cuts- Again!

As most of you are well aware, it took about six months to get a longer than 1 month extension to stave off the Medicare pay cuts earlier this year. Well, that extension is about to expire next Tuesday, November 30th, 2010, at the end of the day.

So, what can you expect?
Well, I would expect things to go about the same as earlier this year. Considering that this is a holiday weekend and the Senate doesn’t return until Monday November 29, and the Congress is simply listed as “not in session” with no return date posted (on the www.opencongress.org), I think you are going to have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. If I had my own office, knowing how fast the government moves, I would definitely make sure that I had all of my Medicare billing ducks in a row and billed out before the end of the day on Tuesday, November 30th. Then it’s going to be a wait and pray game, hoping for that vaunted “Hail Mary” pass to land at your feet before the end of the year.

What is going on?

There is a bill that has been introduced to put another band aid on the Medicare pay cut problem, it has been designated as H.R. 6427: Medicare Physician Payment Update Extension Act. This act is “To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an update under the Medicare physician fee schedule through 2011.” The additional print also mentions extending the current pay rate through the end of December 2010. This new act is for the entire 2011 year, with an additional 1% listed in the bottom print.

H.R. 6427 was introduced to the Senate last week on November 18th. I’ve found a couple of articles that say it has passed the Senate and is only waiting for Congressional Approval. But www.opencongress.org (http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h6427/show) is not listing any vote on the bill at all, only that it has been introduced and they are usually right on top of things.

What next?

Same as always:

• We’ll work to keep you posted as information becomes available.
• Cover your butts. Bill out before the deadline and then wait and see what the next deadline is before billing out again. Play it whatever way will be smartest for your office finances.
• And let’s all keep our fingers crossed that if they aren’t going to solve the problem, that at least they’ll go for the whole year fix this time, rather than month by month fight and fix.