Medicare Payment Cuts Down to Wire

The annual ritual of temporarily fixing Medicare doctor payments is down to the wire as the Senate works to vote on an extension to avoid a 21 percent pay cut that went into affect at the beginning of the month and could impact payments April 15.

The Senate voted on cloture on April 13 and will now consider the fix to the sustainable growth rate, which orders cuts or increases in payments based on what Medicare paid to physicians in previous years.

Since 2003, Congress has had to step in to block cuts in the payment program.

The House approved the Medicare extension bill on March 17. However, the Senate didn’t take up the legislation before starting a two-week recess on March 26, which allowed the 21 percent pay cut to take effect on April 1.

In the meantime, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expected Congress to reverse the cuts, and told its contractors to hold payments for services until April 14.

The cuts could happen on April 15 if opponents of the measure don’t agree to shorten the debate time and allow a vote.