Medicare pay cut averted; Congress OKs two-month patch

[CAL/AAEM News Service]

Description: Description: Description: Description: CAL/AAEM: California
Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine

December 23, 2011

 

Medicare pay cut averted; Congress OKs two-month patch 

 

AMA.org
<http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/no-index/news/2011-12-23-ama-alert.page> 

 

 

Physicians got a brief reprieve from a 27 percent Medicare pay cut Friday
when the U.S. House of Representatives reached agreement with the Senate on
a two-month extension of important policies that expire on Jan. 1.

 

The U.S. Senate last week voted to extend current Medicare payment rates for
two months. After first balking at the two-month extension earlier in the
week, the House reached an agreement Friday with the Senate to extend the
payment rates, as well as the 2 percentage point Social Security tax cut and
to extend unemployment benefits. A House-Senate conference committee will
convene in January to work on a longer-term agreement.

 

At a press conference, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the goal is
to extend all the expiring programs for a full year, except for the
physician payment cut reprieve, which is to be extended for two years.

 

AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD, called on Congress to "enact a real and
fiscally responsible solution to this sorry cycle of scheduled cuts and
short-term patches that compromises access to care for patients and drives
up costs for taxpayers. Members of Congress need to use this time to work in
a bipartisan manner to provide long-term stability for seniors, military
families and the physicians who care for them."

 

Meantime, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended
the annual Medicare participation enrollment period through Feb. 14. The
previous deadline was Dec. 31.

 

The effective date for any participation status change during the extension,
however, remains Jan. 1, and will be enforced for the entire year. According
to CMS, contractors will accept and process any participation elections or
withdrawals made during the extended enrollment period that are post-marked
on or before Feb. 14.

 

The AMA's Medicare Participation Kit can help physicians evaluate their
participation options.

 

 

 

 

Marcus Williams &
Brian Potts MD, MBA
Managing Editors, CAL/AAEM News Service

 

 

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