In Medicare’s own version of March Madness, the House of Representatives approved a bill that could provide a last minute reprieve from physician reimbursement cuts. The Senate must vote on a House of Representatives approved Bill “to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and strengthen Medicare access by improving physician payments” and other improvements. The bill is titled the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. If the Senate fails to approve the bill or Congress doesn’t take other preventive action, physician payment rates will suffer a 21% cut effective March 31 (but affected claims will be held until April 15 while the Senate action is pending). The bill amends Section 42 U.S.C. 1395w-4 to end use of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) to determine the annual conversion factor in the formula for setting physician payment rates. New proposed updates for the single conversion factor under the Bill are as follows: 0.0% for January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015; 0.5% for July 1 through December 31, 2015; 0.5% for 2016-2019; 0.0% for 2020 to 2025; and for 2026 and thereafter, 0.75% and 0.25% depending on “alternative payment model” participation. The bill also requires reports from the Medicare Payment…
