Senate allows Medicare payment cuts

In a June 26 vote, the U.S. Senate voted down the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. If it had passed, the act would have prevented the mandated 10.6% cuts in reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which are scheduled to go into effect July 1.

National physician groups are warning that the cuts will cause many of their members to curtail the number of Medicare-covered patients they treat.

“Today, thanks to some senators, we stand at the brink of a Medicare meltdown,” Nancy H. Nielson, MD, president of the American Medical Association, stated in a press release on the day of the vote. “On July 1 ... the government will slash Medicare physician payments by 10.6%, forcing many physicians to make the difficult choice to limit the number of Medicare patients in their practices.”

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the bill by an overwhelming majority 355 to 59 with 20 abstentions. The vote in the Senate fell short of passage by two votes of the 60 needed to ensure passage (58 to 40 with two abstentions).

If passed, the bill would have prevented the mandated cuts to Medicare payments to physicians and instead increased payments by 0.5% for the remainder of 2008 with a 1.1% update through 2009.

Congress is adjourned for the July 4 holiday and is set to return on July 9. According to a California Orthopedic Association newsletter, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has indicated that Medicare claims will be held for 10 days, giving Congress until July 10th to approve the bill to stop the cuts. After July 10, it is expected that CMS will implement the 10.6% cuts retroactive to July 1.

“The Senate must return from their recess and make seniors’ health care their top priority. For doctors, this is not a partisan issue — it's a patient access issue,” Nielson said.