One Month Fee Schedule Fix Finalized

Prior to the Thanksgiving recess, the Senate passed a temporary fix to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule that delayed the planned December 1 reduction to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The House of Representatives approved the bill on November 29, 2010. And, on November 30, President Obama signed H.R. 5712, The Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010 providing for a Medicare physician payment rate update through December 31, 2010.

The update maintains your current fee schedule until the end of 2010. This legislation does not address the large fee schedule reduction planned for January 1, 2011. Congress needs to tackle the flawed SGR formula or pass another temporary fix before the end of the year.