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This afternoon, Friday, June 18, the Senate passed an amended version of H.R. 3962, now called the “Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010,” by unanimous consent. This legislation provides a 2.2 percent Medicare physician payment update for six months, from June 1 through November 30, 2010, in lieu of the scheduled 21 percent cut.
Unfortunately, the House of Representatives is not scheduled to hold any floor votes until next Tuesday evening, June 22. As a result, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is instructing its carriers today to lift the hold on processing claims for services provided on or after June 1, and to begin processing them under the law’s negative update requirement. In other words, claims will start to be paid today at the 21 percent lower rate, on a first in/ first out flow basis.
Once H.R. 3962 is passed by the House and signed by the President, CMS will retroactively adjust any June claims that have been paid.
As always, the WVSMA will continue to keep you apprised of any additional changes with the Medicare fee schedule.
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