Washington, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) announced House passage of H.R. 3962, fully-paid-for legislation which reverses a 21 percent payment cut for doctors in Medicare and TRICARE which began to be implemented last week.
This legislation provides a retroactive payment to ensure seniors and military families will continue to have access to their doctors.
“We have a responsibility to make sure North Carolina’s seniors and military families have access to their doctors through Medicare and TRICARE,” Etheridge said. “This fix does just that, making sure that doctors get paid a reasonable rate to care for seniors and military patients.”
The Democratic-sponsored bill passed the House 417-1 today with Congressman Etheridge’s vote. The 21 percent payment cut, which is a result of flaws in Medicare’s physician payment formula, the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, took effect June 1. CMS placed a temporary hold on the processing of Medicare reimbursement claims to delay implementing the reduced doctor payments. Unfortunately, the agency was forced to begin processing Medicare claims with the 21 percent payment cut last week in order to reimburse doctors’ offices for their services. This bill retroactively replaces that cut with a 2.2 percent update to physician payment rates through November 30, 2010.
The legislation also provides temporary, targeted funding relief for single employer and multiemployer pension plans that suffered significant losses in asset value due to the steep market slide in 2008. Businesses had contacted Congressman Etheridge asking for help such pension relief. Additionally, the bill gives CMS additional tools to identify fraud in Medicare providers.
In keeping with Congress’ commitment to reduce the deficit and comply with Etheridge-supported Pay-As-You Go rules, H.R. 3962 not only fixes physician payments and provides pension relief, it “adds not a dime” to the budget deficit. In fact, it reduces the deficit by $800 million. The bill will now go to the President for signing into law. The Senate passed its version by unanimous consent last Friday, June 18.
“This is long-overdue legislation that will provide health security for North Carolina’s seniors and military families,” Etheridge said. “It’s important that the President sign this legislation into law as soon as possible so there’s no disruption in services for anyone.”