December 9, 2010 

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill Thursday that will block the 25% Medicare payment cut scheduled to take effect on January 1.

The “Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010,” H.R. 4994, was approved by a 409-2 vote. This marked the fifth time in the past year that Congress had to take action to avert the scheduled cuts.

The bi-partisan bill extends the following provisions, among other things, until 2012: Medicare physician reimbursement rates (0% update for 2011); Medicare work geographic adjustment floor; and increased Medicare rates for ambulance services.

The U.S. Senate approved the legislation Dec. 8 by unanimous consent. It will now be sent to President Barack Obama, who has voiced support to find a permanent fix to Medicare’s physician pay system and is expected to sign the bill.

ACEP would like to thank its members who worked diligently, along with our staff in DC, to educate Congress about the impact the proposed payment cuts would have on the nation’s emergency care system.

ACEP will continue to work with the U.S. Congress, the AMA, AARP and other organizations that do not want to see seniors’ access to health care providers curtailed, to permanently fix this flawed payment system.