Congress OKs 10-month Medicare 'doc fix'

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate both voted Friday to pass a compromise bill that would delay for 10 months the scheduled 27 percent cut in Medicare pay rates to doctors (Source: “Congress OKs Doc Fix, Payroll Tax-Cut Extension,” HealthLeaders Media, Feb. 17, 2012).

The so-called Medicare “doc fix” puts offer a 27.4 percent Medicare provider reimbursement cut that was scheduled to go into effect on March 1 and was part of a compromise that also extended the payroll tax holiday through the end of the year.

The $150 billion bill will be paid for through a series of health-related cuts, including:

• $11.6 billion in funding cuts from the ACA ($5 billion of which will be cut from the prevention fund)
• $9.6 billion from Medicare bad debt and clinical laboratory payments
• $4.1 billion from the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments
• $2.5 billion in enhanced Medicaid funds originally earmarked for Louisiana