On December 16, 2014, Congress gave final approval to H.R. 5771, a tax extender bill that includes the "Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2014." The ABLE Act provisions allow individuals with disabilities to establish tax free savings accounts to pay for qualified expenses (e.g. medical, post-secondary education, housing, and transportation expenses). Prior to House consideration, three Medicare "offsets" were added to help pay for the bill – despite the concerns among a number of lawmakers about the need to reserve such offsets for helping to pay for future Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) sustainable growth rate formula reform legislation. The three Medicare provisions would: (1) accelerate the start date for payment adjustments for MPFS misvalued services to 2016 and revise the annual targets (saving $365 million); (2) prohibit Medicare coverage of vacuum erection systems until such time as Medicare covers erectile dysfunction drugs under Part D (saving $444 million); and (3) delay implementation of oral-only end stage renal disease (ESRD)-related drugs in the ESRD PPS until January 1, 2025. The bill is now awaiting the President's signature.
This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.
