In a 234-193 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a Republican-proposed payroll tax cut bill, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act (HR 3630), that included several measures, including a temporary fix to the sustainable growth rate, according to a report from The Hill.
The two-year "doc fix" would avoid the upcoming 27.4 percent Medicare physician payment cuts, which take effect Jan. 1, 2012, and includes a 1 percent increase in payments in each of the next two years. House Democrats opposed some of the proposed offsets of the $38 billion SGR fix, which include raising Medicare premiums on seniors by 15 percent starting in 2017 and slashing $8 billion from the health law's Prevention and Public Health Fund.
The package will move onto the Democrat-controlled Senate, where it is expected to be rejected. Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama have said they would veto the bill if it included certain controversial provisions, such as the repeal of funding for the PPACA and the inclusion of a measure to expedite the decision on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, according to The Hill.
The American Hospital Association and eight other hospital groups urged Congress in a letter (pdf) to oppose HR 3630. More than $17 billion in hospital funding would be cut to finance the bill, including $6.8 billion in payments for hospital outpatient evaluation and management services and the reduction of Medicare reimbursement for bad debt.
"These potential cuts would be devastating to hospitals and the patients and communities they care for, especially at a time when hospitals are already absorbing cuts as a result of state reductions and recent legislative and regulatory changes, including the 2 percent cut called for under the sequestration included in the Budget Control Act of 2011," the groups said in the letter.
The two-year "doc fix" would avoid the upcoming 27.4 percent Medicare physician payment cuts, which take effect Jan. 1, 2012, and includes a 1 percent increase in payments in each of the next two years. House Democrats opposed some of the proposed offsets of the $38 billion SGR fix, which include raising Medicare premiums on seniors by 15 percent starting in 2017 and slashing $8 billion from the health law's Prevention and Public Health Fund.
The package will move onto the Democrat-controlled Senate, where it is expected to be rejected. Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama have said they would veto the bill if it included certain controversial provisions, such as the repeal of funding for the PPACA and the inclusion of a measure to expedite the decision on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, according to The Hill.
The American Hospital Association and eight other hospital groups urged Congress in a letter (pdf) to oppose HR 3630. More than $17 billion in hospital funding would be cut to finance the bill, including $6.8 billion in payments for hospital outpatient evaluation and management services and the reduction of Medicare reimbursement for bad debt.
"These potential cuts would be devastating to hospitals and the patients and communities they care for, especially at a time when hospitals are already absorbing cuts as a result of state reductions and recent legislative and regulatory changes, including the 2 percent cut called for under the sequestration included in the Budget Control Act of 2011," the groups said in the letter.
Related Articles on the Sustainable Growth Rate:
Medicare "Doc Fix" Should Not Come at Hospitals' Expense, AHA Says
House Republicans Offer Bill That Includes Medicare "Doc Fix"
9% of Medical Groups Would Stop Treating Medicare Patients if Pay Cuts Go Through