Because Medicare claims are not paid any sooner than 14 days after receipt, technically Congress has until June 13th to adopt legislation avoiding the 21.3% cut. CMS is using various communication tools to make Physicians aware of this situation.
March 03, 2010
Last night at approximately 9:00pm, the Senate passed by a vote of 78 - 19 the 30 day extension of the SGR freeze. The bill will now go to the President for his signature.
The legislation extends the Medicare payment freeze (thereby temporarily voiding the 21% reduction) through March 31. In addition, the legislation extends the Therapy Cap exception process through March 31.
Because this is only a temporary, stop-gap measure, Congress will have to pass either another extension or a permanent fix for both of these issues otherwise the 21% cut and resumption of the Therapy Cap for all will occur on April 1.