An economic stimulus bill being drafted by the Senate would delay until Sept. 30 the 21 percent Medicare payment cut to physicians, according to a report by AHANewsNow.
The bill would also clarify the definition of a hospital-based physician under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's HITECH provisions to allow physicians who practice in hospital-owned outpatient centers and clinics to qualify for federal payment incentives for health information technology.
Other provisions in the bill would extend premium assistance for COBRA benefits through May 31 and make a technical correction to reimburse critical access hospitals at 101 percent of their reasonable costs for Method 2 outpatient services, and extend through 2010 expiring Medicare payment provisions related to rural hospitals, long-term care hospitals, the technical component of certain physician pathology services, mental health services and ambulances, according to the report.
Democrats had hoped the $80 billion package would go up for a vote later this week, but snowstorms in the Washington, D.C.-area are expected to delay a vote until the week of Feb. 22, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Read AHANewsNow's report on the economic stimulus bill.
Read the Wall Street Journal's report on the economic stimulus bill.