After several weeks of partisan debate between the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, both chambers finally approved a two-month extension of payroll tax breaks and the Medicare sustainable growth rate, according to a Politico report.
President Barack Obama signed the bill and urged Congress to come up with a full-year agreement on payroll tax breaks and an SGR fix — "without drama" and "without delay," according to the report.
The measure keeps the 2 percent payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits through Feb. 2012, and Medicare payments for physicians will remain at current rates.
Peter Carmel, MD, president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement that Congress must come up with a long-term, "responsible solution to this sorry cycle of scheduled cuts and short-term patches that compromises access to care for patients and drives up costs for taxpayers."
Glen Stream, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, also released a statement, saying the "eleventh-hour legislation that fails to meet the needs of constituents is no way to conduct the nation's business…Americans are tired of short-term, insufficient answers to long-standing problems. Americans want a permanent solution. They want Congress to look beyond the next few months or the next year. They want health security. Instead, they got a bitter holiday gift — an extra 60 days before health insecurity again sets in."
President Barack Obama signed the bill and urged Congress to come up with a full-year agreement on payroll tax breaks and an SGR fix — "without drama" and "without delay," according to the report.
The measure keeps the 2 percent payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits through Feb. 2012, and Medicare payments for physicians will remain at current rates.
Peter Carmel, MD, president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement that Congress must come up with a long-term, "responsible solution to this sorry cycle of scheduled cuts and short-term patches that compromises access to care for patients and drives up costs for taxpayers."
Glen Stream, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, also released a statement, saying the "eleventh-hour legislation that fails to meet the needs of constituents is no way to conduct the nation's business…Americans are tired of short-term, insufficient answers to long-standing problems. Americans want a permanent solution. They want Congress to look beyond the next few months or the next year. They want health security. Instead, they got a bitter holiday gift — an extra 60 days before health insecurity again sets in."
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House GOP Rejects Senate Payroll Tax Bill Containing SGR Fix
Senate Payroll Tax Bill Passes, But GOP House Opposition Remains