Bill that would stall Medicare payment cut fails in Senate

Legislation that would prevent a proposed 10.6% Medicare physician payment cut failed to pass in the U.S. Senate yesterday when a cloture motion to proceed with debate fell short of the majority vote, according to a press release from the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

The reimbursement cut is scheduled to take effect on July 1.

Sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., the proposed Medicare legislation package included an 18-month update for physicians that would effectively block the planned reduction in the sustainable growth rate formula currently used to update Medicare physician payments on a yearly basis. Specifically, the bill proposed a 0.5% positive payment update through Dec. 30 and a 1.1% update for fiscal year 2009.

The failure of the cloture motion to pass in the Senate follows the breakdown of negotiations last month between Sen. Baucus and ranking committee member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, at which time Sen. Baucus proceeded with the bill without the support of the Republican senator. To provide an alternative for Senate Republicans, Sens. Grassley and John Sununu, R-N.H., introduced a rival bill that would also provide physicians with 18 months of positive updates. The two bills diverge primarily on funding mechanisms, according to the release.

However, unless the Democratic and Republican leadership can unite in a bipartisan effort to introduce new legislation in the imminent future, there will not be enough time to prevent the cut from going into effect on July 1, the release said.

"With a 10.6% Medicare cut immediately facing physicians, we are disappointed that legislation halting this devastating cut did not move forward [Thursday]," Cathy Cohen, AAO vice president for governmental affairs, said in the release. "We call upon Republicans and Democratic leaders to come together over the next few days to intervene and stop the cut."