SGR Update: Congress passes one-year Medicare pay patch

Tuesday, April 01, 2014 06:44 AM

The U.S. Senate narrowly passed H.R. 4302, the “Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014,” on March 31, which postpones the imminent 24 percent Medicare physician payment cut for 12 months - until April 1, 2015. This is the 17th time Congress has passed a temporary payment patch. The House passed an identical version of the bill by voice vote on March 27, and President Obama signed the legislation into law on April 1.

The legislation also delays the implementation of the ICD-10 code set until at least Oct. 1, 2015.

Top staff of both Colorado senators, Sen. Mark Udall and Sen. Michael Bennet, called the Colorado Medical Society to express their disappointment that Congress wasn’t able to repeal and replace Medicare’s sustainable growth rate. And both, along with rest of the Colorado congressional delegation, have pledged their continued commitment to passing a permanent solution.

The American Medical Association strongly opposed H.R. 4302, instead advocating for H.R. 4015/S. 2000, a bipartisan, bicameral policy that would eliminate the SGR and reform the Medicare physician payment system. But lawmakers weren’t able to agree on the funding mechanisms to pay for it. The AMA and CMS will continue to urge Congress to return to the bipartisan process that produced the unprecedented agreement on Medicare physician payment and delivery system reform.