Congress Approves FY 2003 Omnibus Spending Bill, Including $54B for Medicare Provider Payments

The House and Senate on Feb. 13 approved a $397.4 billion fiscal year 2003 omnibus appropriations bill, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports (Fram, AP/Contra Costa Times, 2/14). The legislation, which includes 11 separate FY 2003 appropriations bills, includes an across-the-board reduction of 0.6% to 0.7%; the legislation would exempt several programs from the reductions, such as health care programs for veterans and the Women, Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program. Under the bill, the NIH would receive $27.2 billion, a $3.8 billion increase from FY 2002 and the largest increase in the legislation (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/13). The CDC would receive an estimated $4.3 billion, a $240 million increase from fiscal year 2002; the funds include $268 million to make "badly needed repairs" to facilities in Atlanta and Fort Collins, Colo., and to build new facilities (Eversley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/14). The legislation also would provide $23.9 billion for Department of Veterans Affairs health care programs, an increase of $2.5 billion from FY 2002 (St. Petersburg Times, 2/13). The legislation also includes language that would eliminate a provision in the Homeland Security law to limit liability for vaccine additive manufacturers such as Eli Lilly. In addition, the bill includes language that would order the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee to draft a bill within six months to reform the federal vaccine injury compensation program (Ghent et al., CongressDaily/AM, 2/14).

Medicare Physician Reimbursements
The legislation also includes a provision that would provide $54 billion to increase Medicare reimbursements to physicians over the next 10 years (AP/Contra Costa Times, 2/14). The bill also includes a provision that would eliminate a 4.4% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursement rates scheduled for March 1. The provision would increase Medicare physician reimbursements by 1.6% and would cost the federal government between $1.5 billion and $2 billion through the end of FY 2003. In addition, the provision would allow CMS to correct past errors in the Medicare physician reimbursement formula. House and Senate negotiators on Feb. 10 allocated $49 billion over 10 years for the payment increase. However, a letter this week from Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin to Senate Budget Committee Chair Don Nickles (R-Okla.) and House Budget Committee Chair Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) said that the provision would cost $54 billion for the period between 2003 and 2013. (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/13). President Bush praised the bill and said in a written statement, "I look forward to signing this legislation and to continuing a course of fiscal discipline" (Fram, AP/Nando Times, 2/14). More information about the appropriations bill is available online.