Congress Passes SGR Fix: Providers Should Submit Claims as They Normally Do
On December 23, 2011, President Obama signed in to law HR 3765, the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011. It included a two-month extension of current Medicare payment rates, thereby averting a 27 percent payment reduction that was set to take place January 1, 2012, due to the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR).
Both parties had expressed the desire to extend the SGR patch and other important policies such as the payroll tax cut for longer than two months, however, were unable to come to an agreement on how to pay for these extensions. Congress will begin debate on a longer extension when they return to Washington this month.
Physicians should continue to submit claims to CMS as normal.
