Posts Tagged ‘SGR’

The Senate passed (62-36), on March 10, the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (HR 4213), which includes provisions to extend the zero percent Medicare payment update to physicians until Sept. 30 and the therapy cap exception process until Dec. 31. Read more »

President Obama signed the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (HR 4691) into law March 2, just hours after the Senate passed it. This legislation temporarily freezes Medicare physician payments at the current zero percent update and extends the therapy cap exception process through March 31.

The bill also provides several short-term extensions of several authorities, including those related to COBRA premiums.

The 21.2 percent Medicare physician payment cut will go into effect April 1, unless Congress further delays it or devises a permanent fix to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula.

Currently on the Senate table is the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (HR 4213), which would extend the Medicare payment freeze until Sept. 30 and the therapy cap exception process until Dec. 31.

President Barack Obama signed into law Dec. 19, 2009 the $636.3 billion Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010 (HR 3326), giving Medicare participating physicians a two month reprieve from payment cuts that were scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1.

The update to the single conversion factor is zero percent for 2010 from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28. Unless Congress puts forth another temporary fix or comes up with a permanent solution for paying physicians under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) before Feb. 28, however, physicians face a -21.2 percent payment cut, effective March 1. Read more »

The 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule was posted in the Federal Register over a month ago, giving you plenty of time to review policy changes before the Jan. 1 implementation date. The only question that remains is: Did you review the most recent version? There are a number of technical and typographical errors that have since been identified and corrected. Read more »

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced, Oct. 30, final changes to 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) policies and payment rates. Taking into account all changes in the final rule, CMS projects a payment increase between 5 and 8 percent for health care professionals paid under the MPFS. That’s the good news …

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President Barack Obama spoke at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates held in Chicago, Ill. June 15 to reiterate his stance on health care reform.

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