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Congress overrides veto of bill to stall Medicare physician payment cut
Congress has voted to override President Bush's veto of legislation that will halt the 10.6% Medicare physician payment cut that went into effect on July 1.
After President Bush vetoed the bill Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted 383-41 to override the veto and the Senate followed suit with a vote of 70-26.
In addition to providing an 18-month reprieve from the 10.6% cut, HR 6331 — called the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 — will prevent the 5.5% pay cut scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1. In addition, the bill extends a 0.5% positive payment update through Dec. 31 and provides a 1.1% increase in 2009.
The cut had stemmed from a reduction in the sustainable growth rate, a formula that determines annual updates to Medicare physician payments, as well as previous attempts to delay the cut.
"While ASCRS applauds the fact that the recently passed Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 stops the 10.6% Medicare physician payment cut that went into effect on July 1, we must be frank in recognizing that it is little more than a temporary solution, which only postpones the difficult choices that must be made to address the underlying problems in the physician payment system and will only make it more expensive and difficult to fix those problems in the long term," Bradford Shingleton, MD, president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, said in a press release.
“Last evening’s congressional override of President Bush’s veto of HR 6331 provides a significant 18-month temporary fix to the SGR crisis and is the first time Congress has provided a full MedPAC-recommended update for physicians,” Catherine Cohen, American Academy of Ophthalmology vice president for governmental affairs, said in a statement. “The Academy will work closely with other medical groups, Congress and the incoming administration to find a permanent solution for reforming Medicare physician payment before Dec. 31, 2009.”