On Medicare Cut: Congress Once Again Gives Itself Little Time to Grow a Pair
And the tired can-kicking game continues.
Last night, the House, in a 289-to-112 vote, passed a bill that will again delay the SGR-mandated 21% cut in Medicare reimbursement to physicians. But the new deadline, June 1, echoes the same old brevity of previous stop-gap measures.*
The House voted almost immediately after the Senate approved the Democrat-favored bill in a 59-to-34 vote. The bill also contains provisions to extend unemployment benefits, COBRA subsidies, and state funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. An earlier version of the bill, passed by the Senate in March, would have extended the Medicare cut to October 1st.
If my count is correct, this is the 4th time in 5 months that Congress has acted to delay the mandated cut in the Medicare reimbursement rate. Unfortunately the current 45-day postponement gives Congress little time to produce a permanent (and commonsensical) fix to the perpetually looming drop in Medicare reimbursement.
For more coverage, visit Medscape.
COBRA = Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act; SGR = sustainable growth rate.
* The 21% cut officially began April 1st, but Medicare again stepped in to delay the processing of physicians' claims for 2 weeks.
Photo of weathered can from magannie at Flickr.
