Congress finally passed legislation signed into law by President Obama that not only prevents physicians from receiving a 21.3 percent payment reduction but actually establishes a 2.2 percent payment increase. 

On June 25, 2010, President Obama signed the “Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010.” This law establishes a 2.2 percent update to the Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) payment rates retroactive to June 1 through November 30, 2010. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has instructed contractors to delay processing claims with a date of service on or after June 1 until the agency has tested and uploaded data files with these new payment rates. The agency anticipated that this would occur no later than July 1.

Some contractors began processing claims with dates of service on or after June 1 in mid-June; therefore, there may be providers whose claims were paid at the negative update rate. These claims will be reprocessed automatically by individual Medicare contractors, according to CMS.

Uncertainty has been a big issue this year in regards to physician payments. Two previous temporary extensions were contributing factors earlier this year—the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 and the Continuing Extension Act of 2010, which continued the 0 percent payment updates through March 31 and May 31, respectively.

 Deborah C. Hall

Clinical/Technical Editor