Sen. Baucus Says Lawmakers Will Approve Medicare Physician Payment Fix Before Cuts Take Effect July 1
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Tuesday said that legislation that would prevent a 10.6% reduction to Medicare physician fees will be ready by the Fourth of July recess, CQ HealthBeat reports. Baucus introduced in early June a bill (S 3101) that would block the fee reduction, which is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, but the measure on Thursday failed to receive enough votes for debate (Armstrong/Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 6/17). Baucus did not reveal what his plans were but said that there were several options. Lobbyists said that Baucus might attempt another cloture vote on his bill, which failed 54-39. However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) voted against cloture to retain the ability to bring the legislation up again, according to CongressDaily.CongressDaily reports that Democrats likely would have the 60 votes required to end debate if they added the five Democrats who missed the vote because they were campaigning or sick (Edney, CongressDaily, 6/18). CQ HealthBeat reports that Baucus is "eventually expected to reach a compromise" with Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Grassley introduced a competing bill (S 3118) that would make fewer cuts to Medicare Advantage, among other differences (CQ HealthBeat, 6/17). Before the cloture vote, Reid denied a request by Republicans for a similar vote on Grassley's measure (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 6/13).
Baucus is scheduled to meet with House leadership on Wednesday to discuss the legislation. He said that a bill could be on the floor this week, although it is "somewhat doubtful."
Baucus, Grassley Introduce Competitive Bidding Program Delay Bill
In related news, Baucus and Grassley on Tuesday introduced a measure that would delay the first two rounds of a Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 6/17). Under the competitive bidding program, which is scheduled to begin July 1, CMS will select DME suppliers to participate in Medicare based on bids they submit. The 2003 Medicare law mandated the program as part of a larger effort to implement competitive bidding.
In 2008, the program will operate in 10 of the largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas and will apply to 10 of the top DME, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies product categories. In 2009, the program will expand to an additional 70 MSAs and will continue to expand in future years. The program also will apply to additional product categories in future years. The program likely will result in an average 26% decrease in the prices of medical equipment in the 10 MSAs, according to CMS (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 6/12).
Both Baucus and Grassley had added language to delay the DME program in their Medicare bills. The measure would terminate contracts that were already awarded for the first round of the program and restart the bidding process for those areas. The measure's cost would be offset by cutting the annual inflationary adjustment for 2009 on DME covered under the first round of the competitive bidding program and reducing payments for those products by 9.5% nationwide. The DME suppliers subject to the cut would receive a 2% increase in 2014, except in areas where the bidding program is in effect or where CMS has adjusted rates (CQ HealthBeat, 6/17).
House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee leaders last week proposed an identical measure, according to CongressDaily. On Monday, bipartisan support for the legislation "eroded a bit" after the Republican Study Committee said in a policy statement it does not want Congress legislating "the minutia of fee schedules," according to CongressDaily (CongressDaily, 6/18).
