CMS Plans to Adjust Medicare Payment If Legislation Passes

The U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a Feb. 1 vote on legislation that would address the 4.4 percent cut in Medicare physician payment that went into effect Jan. 1. CMS officials have said Medicare would retroactively adjust physician payment to 2005 levels if the bill passes unchanged and is signed by President Bush.

The AAFP, AMA and other physician organizations have worked with CMS to ensure payments are adjusted retroactively after the bill, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (at the Library of Congress' THOMAS Web site, type "S 1932" in the search box after selecting "Bill Number") has become law.

"I applaud CMS for proactively planning to restore lost payments resulting from Congress' failure to act on the issue in a timely manner last year," said AAFP President Larry Fields, M.D., of Ashland, Ky. "Regardless, this does nothing to solve the underlying problem of a flawed Medicare payment formula, and I call on Congress to permanently fix the formula this year. That is their responsibility to our patients and to America's family doctors, who are continuing to stand at our patients' sides no matter the difficulties placed in our way," said Fields.

AAFP members can urge their representatives to vote for the Deficit Reduction Act legislation by going to the Academy's Legislative Action Center and clicking on "Act Immediately to Reverse the Medicare Physician Payment Formula."

In the interim, the AMA has issued a Q-and-A sheet (PDF file: 2 pages / 67.6 KB. More about PDFs.) that discusses the questions physicians may have about billing Medicare. Among the issues addressed: