Senate Joins House in Delaying Physician Pay Cut Until End of February
December 22, 2009
The U.S. Senate has joined the House in delaying implementation of the 21.2 percent Medicare pay cut for physicians from Jan. 1, 2010, to until Feb. 28, 2010, and President Obama is expected to sign the measure, according to a report by Medscape.
Congress has rejected proposals to rescind the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula that is responsible for the massive cut, which has been accumulating each year since Congress initially postponed it in 2002.
As a follow-up to the temporary fix, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said that he would campaign for a "multiyear fix" of the SGR once Congress has passed health reform.
Read Medscape's report on the sustainable growth rate.
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