Physicians can rest easy for at least another year.
In a Tuesday night vote, Congress easily cleared the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331) with enough votes to override President Bush's veto, which was cast earlier Wednesday. The new law will reverse a 10.6 Medicare pay cut scheduled for July 1. The bill stalls the pay cuts for 18 months and provides a 1.1 percent increase for 2009.
Providers and stakeholders praised the passage of the bill, which required the swaying of almost a dozen Republican senators who had originally opposed it. Republicans opposed the bill because it would be funded with cuts to Medicare Advantage. Democrats said the Republican opposition catered to big health plan interests.
The new law includes incentives for physicians who adopt healthcare IT and use electronic prescriptions, a highly supported measure by both sides of the aisle to prevent medication errors and cut healthcare costs. In addition, it expands the list of telehealth originating sites to include hospital-based renal dialysis centers, skilled nursing facilities and community mental health centers.
Bruce Roberts, CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association, with a 23,000 community pharmacy membership, said the new law "will guarantee community pharmacies the ability to help millions of patients and to compete on a level playing field."
Earlier this month, the American Medical Association launched an all-out, grass-roots Congressional lobbying effort with patients and physicians for passage of the bill. According to AMA President Nancy Nielsen, MD, the 18-month reprieve will allow the government time to replace the flawed Medicare physician payment formula.
"It has been a long and winding road, but today we celebrate that Congress heard the voices of millions of patients and physicians and voted to override President Bush's veto and protect the health of America," Nielsen said. "We thank the bipartisan majority in Congress who voted to put patients first."
Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and co-author of the law, criticized the White House for the veto.
"If we fail to override this veto, we will miss out on an opportunity to begin addressing the most egregious abuses made by private health plans operating in Medicare," he told Congress prior to its vote.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and an opponent of the bill, said it is "riddled with problems and missed opportunities," including assistance for "tweener hospitals" and some value-based measures for improving costs and quality of care.
He said he is not opposed to "some reforms" to the Medicare Advantage program and was disappointed that bipartisan efforts to compromise were cut short by Democrats.
How would you like to see the Medicare physician payment system reformed? E-mail your comments to Senior Editor Diana Manos at diana.manos@medtechpublishing.com.