• Another patch and another cliff

    Last week, a U.S. House-Senate Conference Committee reached a 10-month deal that would maintain current physician payment rates through the end of the year. The measure, H.R. 3630 (at the THOMAS website, type "H.R. 3630" into the search field after selecting "Bill Number"), was subsequently approved by both the House and Senate. Yesterday, the President signed the bill into law.

    This latest patch to the Medicare physician fee schedule avoids the 27.4 percent Medicare physician payment cut that was otherwise scheduled to occur on March 1 as a result of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. Because H.R. 3630 postpones but does not eliminate the threat posed by the SGR, physicians will face a 32 percent Medicare payment reduction when the payment patch expires at the end of this year, which makes Jan. 1, 2013, the next "cliff" that physicians will face in terms of Medicare payments.

    As noted, the law does not solve the underlying problem. It only postpones its resolution and adds to the cost of a permanent solution. The cost of repealing the SGR will climb from $316 billion today to $335 billion in 2013. In the meantime, physicians are left to cope with the ongoing uncertainty and hope that Congress will find the fortitude and funds for a permanent solution before 2013 rolls around.

    Posted on Feb 23, 2012 by Kent Moore


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