President Barack Obama and Congress were able to avoid going over the fiscal cliff earlier this week by striking a deal to prevent huge spending cuts, including a 26.5 percent cut in physician reimbursement for Medicare patients, according to a Washington Post report. The deal includes short term funding to curb reimbursement cuts to physicians, but is not a permanent solution, according to the report. Around $15 billion has been cut from reimbursement to hospitals, which is about half of the total funding needed to stabilize physician reimbursement.
The new legislation also halts sequestration for two months to prevent a 2 percent spending cut for all Medicare providers, extends the Medicare 1.0 RVU GPCI floor through December 31, extends the Medicare therapy cap exception process through the end of the year and increases the Medicare therapy service multiple procedure payment reduction to 50 percent effective April 1, according to a DoctorsManagement report.
The new legislation also halts sequestration for two months to prevent a 2 percent spending cut for all Medicare providers, extends the Medicare 1.0 RVU GPCI floor through December 31, extends the Medicare therapy cap exception process through the end of the year and increases the Medicare therapy service multiple procedure payment reduction to 50 percent effective April 1, according to a DoctorsManagement report.
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