Congress Blocks 27% Medicare Reimbursement Cut In Fiscal Cliff Deal—But Cuts Other Health Care Services

The recent deal struck by Congress and the White House to prevent implementation of sequestration to reduce federal spending and the deficit (known as the “fiscal cliff”), also included a provision to prevent a planned 27% cut to Medicare physician reimbursements from taking place for one year. The result will be no change to the rates announced in the Medicare 2013 physician fee schedule. Medicare reimbursements to physicians are set by a Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) calculation that is intended to update rates to maintain budget neutrality and reduce Medicare reimbursement rates to stay within budget. Congress has intervened over . . .