President Obama signs the “Continuing Extension Act of 2010” reinstating 2009 Medicare physician payment rates
Chicago —
(April 16, 2010)
Last night, President Obama signed H.R. 4851, the ”Continuing
Extension Act of 2010” into law. This legislation includes a
reinstating of Medicare physician payment rates as they were on March
31, and postponing the 21 percent cut until May 31, 2010.
The bill was passed by the Senate by a vote of
59 – 38 yesterday evening and was subsequently passed by the House by a
vote of 289 – 112 before it was sent to President Obama.
The hold on processing April claims that the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had placed to avoid
implementing the payment cut technically expired yesterday. However,
with Congressional action so imminent, ASA does not believe many claims
were processed at the lower payment rates. ASA has been informed by
CMS that any claims paid that reflected the 21 percent cut will be
reprocessed automatically without any action required from physicians.
ASA urges Congress to fully repeal the current
SGR formula and implement a new Medicare physician payment update
mechanism that accurately reflects the increasing annual costs of
providing services to Medicare beneficiaries.
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS
Anesthesiologists: Physicians providing the lifeline of modern medicine. Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with 46,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.
For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists Web site at www.asahq.org. For patient information, visit LifeLineToModernMedicine.com
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