Senate passes Medicare bill to avert physician payment cuts

July 10, 2008 Senate passes Medicare bill to avert physician payment cuts H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Senate passed key legislation July 9 that forestalls a 10.6% cut in Medicare physician payments following intense lobbying from patient and physician advocacy groups over the Independence Day Congressional recess. The 69-30 tally in favor of the bill makes it veto-proof. The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (HR 6331) replaces the 10.6% payment cut scheduled by Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate formula that would have become effective July 1 with a 0.5% payment raise for the remainder of 2008. HR 6331 also repeals an additional 5% cut set for Jan. 1, 2009, and provides instead a 1.1% increase.

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