On March 26, the US House of Representatives voted 392-37 to pass the “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015”. The bill proposes to repeal permanently the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and replace it with a new payment system favoring value over volume-based reimbursement. The bill also includes crucial two-year funding extensions for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and our nation’s community health centers.
Though the Senate failed to act on the bill before starting its two-week recess last Friday, lawmakers are expected to take it up with broad bi-partisan support when they return to Washington April 13. Meanwhile, CMS has indicated they will delay processing new claims until after April 14 to avoid applying the 20% reduction in payments scheduled to take effect April 1 as a result of the expiration of the previous SGR patch.
NextGen Healthcare will provide further updates along with in-depth summary and analysis in the next edition of What’s Next and on our next monthly Health Reform Simplified Webinar.