A Defense Department spending bill that included a 2-month delay in the scheduled 21% cut in the rate that Medicare pays physicians was signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 19.
The presidential signature came shortly after the Senate's 88–10 vote on the same day in favor of the legislation.
Physician groups have not given up on securing a permanent overhaul to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, which governs the Medicare payment rate.
In a statement, Dr. J. James Rohack, president of the American Medical Association, said that the group agreed with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who removed a 1-year SGR fix from his health reform package with an aim of separately winning a permanent overhaul.
“As we call for a permanent solution, the AMA acknowledges the House and Senate votes to stop the cuts for 2 months so that access to care for Medicare and TRICARE patients is not disrupted while the Senate works on solving the problem once and for all,” Dr. Rohack said in the statement commenting on the SGR vote.
The House of Representatives had voted for a permanent fix in a standalone bill, but the Senate later rejected it.
Neither the House nor the Senate had included a permanent fix for the SGR payment formula in their respective health reform bills.
The fee reduction was due to go into effect Jan. 1.
Lawmakers, who had few legislative vehicles left to avert the imminent Medicare fee cut, opted to attach the delay to the Defense spending bill, knowing that, with American military deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bill's passage was a must-do proposition.
The $636 billion Defense appropriations bill had previously been passed in the House.
The package includes almost $14 billion in non-Defense spending, including an extension of unemployment benefits and subsidies to help pay for COBRA benefits.