Following the Senate’s lead, the U.S. House Wednesday voted to extend current Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians through the end of the year. Other items, including legislation affecting the long-term care community, are on Congress’s to-do list during this lame-duck session.
Providers are hoping Congress will pass legislation repealing the delay of RUG-IV classification system by the end of the year. The healthcare reform law delayed the start of RUG-IV until Oct. 1, 2011. They also are pushing for Congress to extend the therapy caps exceptions process, which is set to expire on Dec. 31.
The doc-fix legislation was sent to President Obama, who was expected to sign the bill. Congressional intervention prevented what would have been a 23% cut in Medicare physician reimbursement payments this Wednesday.