On December 23, 2011, by voice votes with no debate in either body, the United States House of Representatives and Senate passed a measure which delays for two months a 27.4% reduction in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule that was set to take effect on January 1, 2012. This bill became law the very next day with the signature of President Obama.
Although the scheduled reduction in Medicare physician fees, which was announced by CMS in its Final Rule on November 1, 2011, is required under the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, once again Congress has acted to delay the significant reduction in reimbursement rates.
However, the moratorium merely reset the effective date of the cuts from January 1, 2012 to March 1, 2012. As a result, future Congressional action will be necessary to prevent the considerable reduction in the Medicare physician fee schedule from taking effect. Although the current "fix" was piggybacked into the payroll tax cut extension legislation, it will be intriguing to observe whether Congress will be able to extend the physician fee schedule resolution through the end of 2012 or longer given the political climate and upcoming Presidential election. Unfortunately, physicians with a high Medicare patient population will continue to be caught in the middle until a long term solution is reached at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
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