Health Law

Congress Continues Game of Political Football with Medicare "Doc Fix"

By Todd Rodriguez

As of this past Friday, things were looking good for at least a temporary fix to the impending 21% Medicare physician rate cuts.  In an effort to forestall the cuts, the Senate passed a short term fix and sent it back to the House of Representatives for a vote.  According to a recent AP article, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put the breaks on once again, however, by indicating that she does not intend to call a vote on the "doc fix" bill until the Senate addresses an extension of various unemployment benefits.  

Since CMS has now begun processing physician claims at the reduced 2010 rates, physicians can expect to see a meaningful drop in Medicare reimbursement over the next few months.  Moreover, if the doc fix is passed retroactively, physicians will need to resubmit claims in order to get full reimbursement.   

Full post as published by Physician Law on June 23, 2010 (boomark / email).