Despite an overwhelming 392-to-37 vote in the House to scrap the SGR formula for physician Medicare payments, the Senate adjourned for a two-week recess without voting on the measure. Senators were distracted from taking action on the House SGR-repeal bill by a pre-recess “vote-o-rama” on other legislation, mostly budget amendments. Many in Washington expect that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will postpone Medicare payments during the first two weeks of April, essentially preventing the 21% slash in physician reimbursement set to kick in on April 1. That will buy time for the Senate to reconvene and vote on the SGR bill.
Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico Pro told Kaiser Health News that any amendments to the House-passed SGR measure that the Senate debates—such as a full “pay-for” or four years of expanded funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program rather than two—“are unlikely to be approved, but [Senators] want to be able to make a point.” Conventional wisdom posits that the delay will not hurt the chances of an SGR repeal finally passing both chambers and being signed by President Obama.