House, Senate Negotiators Agree To Increase Medicare Provider Payments by $49B Over 10 Years
House and Senate negotiators on Feb. 10 agreed to add provisions to the fiscal year 2003 omnibus appropriations package that would increase Medicare reimbursements to physicians by $49 billion over 10 years and avert a 4.4% cut in scheduled for March 1, the Washington Post reports. The plan, worked out between House Ways and Means Committee Chair Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) and Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), would increase physician payments by 1.6%. The increase would cost the federal government between $1.5 billion and $2 billion through the end of FY 2003 (Morgan, Washington Post, 2/11). The deal would go beyond the Senate-passed version of the bill, which would delay the March 1 cuts without increasing reimbursements (Rogers, Wall Street Journal, 2/11). The proposal "remove[s] barriers" for CMS to correct past errors in the physician payment system, CongressDaily/AM reports (Ghent/Fulton, CongressDaily/AM, 2/11). The American Medical Association "lobbied ... intensely" for the deal, the Post reports. AMA President Dr. Yank Coble has warned that if Congress does not act on Medicare payments there would be a "meltdown" in the number of doctors willing to treat Medicare beneficiaries (Washington Post, 2/11). Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee last week, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson urged Congress to act within 10 days to prevent the scheduled physician payment reduction (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/7).
Boost for Rural Hospitals
The deal also includes a provision that would give hospitals outside urban areas in almost every state $600 million more in Medicare reimbursement payments through September (Washington Post, 2/11). The agreement did not include Medicare reimbursement rate increases for home health care providers sought by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and others (CongressDaily/AM, 2/11). Other providers seeking similar relief, such as skilled nursing facilities and medical facilities in Puerto Rico, were also not included in the deal, according to the Post (Washington Post, 2/11). The deal also would continue a Medicare Part B subsidy program for the poor, CongressDaily/AM reports. Negotiations on the total spending package are expected to be finalized as early as today (CongressDaily/AM, 2/11).
