House Approves Temporary Medicare Fee Schedule Fix; 2011 Rates Include 30% Cut

Here we go again! Reimbursement rates for 2011, scheduled to take effect January 1, include a 30% cut. 

On November 30, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Senate-passed bill that stops a projected 23% cut in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and extends the current payment rates through December 31. The legislation pays for the extension by implementing a policy that reduces the payment rate for second and subsequent speech-language, occupational therapy, or physical therapy treatments provided to the same patient on the same day.

However, most Medicare observers expect Congress to enact legislation to prevent implementation of these dramatic cuts.

In spite of Electronic Medical Records incentives, whether client server based EMR or EHR where there is a substantial investment or Web-based EHR or web-based EMR, where upfront investments are less or next to nothing, physicians are still reluctant to adopt electronic medical record systems and are adopting a wait and watch policy when it comes to any incentives from CMS.