In a surprise turnaround, the Senate voted Friday afternoon to approve a six-month delay in a 21 percent Medicare physician pay cut from June 1 to December 1, according to the American Hospital Association's AHA NewsNow.
The measures were passed as part of the Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, which now must pass the House.
The bill also contains a reduction in hospital payments by about $4 billion by preventing hospitals from submitting separate claims for inpatient and outpatient therapeutic care provided within 72 hours of an admission, according to AHA.
On Friday, leaders of the American Hospital Association; Association of American Medical Colleges; Catholic Health Association of the United States; Federation of American Hospitals; and the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems wrote the Senate urging them to support "a true fix" in the current formula used to pay physicians.
The associations also urged Congress to eliminate the 72-hour rule provision that would reduce payments to hospitals.