Maine Medicine Weekly Update - March 26, 2021 (Plain Text Version)
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U.S. Senate Votes to Delay Medicare Payment Cuts for Remainder of Year
According to the American Medical Association, the United States Senate voted 90-2 this week to pass an agreement to extend the 2 percent Medicare sequester moratorium that expires on April 1.
According to the American Medical Association, the United States Senate voted 90-2 this week to pass an agreement to extend the 2 percent Medicare sequester moratorium that expires on April 1. The bipartisan legislation, offered as an amendment by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and Senator Susan Collins, would provide a nine-month extension of the moratorium, through December 31. It also contains some technical corrections related to rural health clinics and disproportionate share hospitals. The House of Representatives passed different legislation earlier that would both extend the moratorium through the end of the pandemic and eliminate an additional 4 percent Medicare sequester scheduled to take effect on January 1, which was required by PayGo rules to offset part of the cost of passing the American Rescue Plan COVID-19/stimulus package. Consequently, the House will need to pass the Senate language when it returns from its Easter recess in mid-April. The House is expected to vote favorably, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is expected to hold off on processing April claims until then to avoid making reduced payments. Physician and other stakeholder groups affected by the upcoming 4% sequester scheduled for January 1 expect legislation to be considered later in the year to waive those cuts.
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