The House voted on May 28 on HR 4213, the American Jobs, Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act, according to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), Alexandria, Va.
The House voted on the package in two pieces. The first vote was on the greater $89 billion portion containing an extension of unemployment insurance through November and numerous expiring tax provisions and revenue-raising offsets, which passed by a vote of 215-204. This provision also repeals the delay of Version 4 of the Resource Utilization Groups (RUG IV) for purposes of reimbursing skilled nursing facilities (SNF) under Medicare and will allow RUG IV to go into effect on October 1, consistent with the final SNF payment regulation for FY2011.
Following that vote, the chamber passed a $23 billion piece delaying Medicare physician fee schedule cuts through the end of 2011. This provision increases payment rates by 2.2% for the remainder of 2010 and increases payment by 1% in 2011. After 2011, the rates would return to a negative update.
The provisions will now be sent to the Senate, which adjourned May 27 for the Memorial Day recess leaving the legislation unaddressed until June. However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has stated that it will hold claims for the first 10 business days of June to avoid disruption in the delivery of care to patients and payment of services to physical therapists.
[Source: APTA]
