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Message from CMS: On April 15, 2010, President Obama signed into law the “Continuing Extension Act of 2010.” This law extends through May 31, 2010, the zero percent update to the MPFS that was in effect for claims with dates of service January 1, 2010 through March 31, 2010. The law is retroactive to April 1, 2010. Consequently, effective immediately, claims with dates of service April 1 and later, which were being held by Medicare contractors, are being released for processing and payment. Please keep in mind that the statutory payment floors still apply and, therefore, clean electronic claims cannot be paid before 14 calendar days after the date they are received by Medicare contractors (29 calendar days for clean paper claims).
Stop us if you've heard this one before.
Congress put fresh lipstick on the Medicare physician fee pig late Thursday (April 15) when it once again postponed a 21.3-percent reduction – this time until June 1 – rather than find a real solution to the payment problem.
The provision that freezes Medicare payment rates at the previous 2010 level is contained in a bill, HR 4581, that extends federal unemployment benefits. The vote was 58-34 in the Senate and 289-112 in the House. President Obama immediately signed the bill.
Thursday's action is the third time since December that Congress delayed the fee cut. It is a repeat of a decade-long pattern of proposed cuts and last-minute congressional action to postpone them. Instead of a permanent solution, Congress continually opts for temporary fixes.
"It is absolutely unacceptable for the United States Congress to inflict this kind of perpetual uncertainty on Medicare patients and their physicians," said Texas Medical Association President William H. Fleming III, MD. "This is an all-too-real reason why Congress needs to quit dithering and get to work on a permanent new Medicare payment formula today.
"We need every physician, every patient, every nurse, every spouse, and every health care professional in Texas to join our million-signature petition drive now," he said.
As of mid-April, more than 37,000 signatures were on the petition that asks Congress to abolish Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and preserve senior citizens' access to care. Fifty-one state medical associations and 14 national specialty societies are promoting the petition that urges Congress to "Stop the Medicare Meltdown" and develop "a rational Medicare physician payment system that automatically keeps up with the cost of running a practice and is backed by a fair, stable funding formula."
Please add your name to the petition and encourage your friends, family, colleagues, staff, and patients to sign it, as well.
TMA's Medicare Meltdown Action Center
Last Published: 4/16/2010 Print this page
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