CMS to hold claims a few more days in hopes of doc fix

Shortly following President Barack Obama's Saturday Internet address urging Senate Republicans to stop blocking a vote to avert physicians' 21 percent pay cut, CMS has announced that it will extend its hold on claims processing until Friday, giving Congress one more small window during which to finalize legislation to retroactively eliminate the cut and raise Medicare physician pay through 2011.

When CMS made its announcement on claims processing June 14, Senate leaders were still working to move an amended House-passed bill against resistance from conservatives who don't want the patch to add to the federal deficit, reports American Medical News, published by The American Medical Association.

Meanwhile, following the AMA House of Delegates Annual Meeting on June 12, AMA members began sending their lab coats to Capitol Hill this week "as a symbolic, visible reminder" that congressional action is needed to prevent the cut, AMA President J. James Rohack said in a statement.

President Obama emphasized in his weekend speech that he agreed that "simply kicking these cuts down the road another year is not a long-term solution to this problem," but rather a necessary stopgap until policymakers can pass a more permanent solution to the sustainable growth rate formula. "I'm absolutely willing to take the difficult steps necessary to lower the cost of Medicare and put our budget on a more fiscally sustainable path," Obama said. "But I'm not willing to do that by punishing hard-working physicians or the millions of Americans who count on Medicare."

Of course, the mounting delays on claims processing represent cash-flow problems for physicians. In a June 14 email, however, CMS officials wrote: "We understand that the delayed processing of Medicare claims may present cash-flow problems for some Medicare providers. However, we expect that the delay, if any, beyond the normal processing period will be only a few days."

To learn more:
- see this piece in the New York Times
- read this American Medical News piece
- check out this post on The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
- get more updates from AM News

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