In a 90–2 vote, the Senate last week passed legislation that would extend through the end of 2021 a moratorium on the 2 percent Medicare sequester cut.
Senators voted on an amended version of a House-passed bill (H.R. 1868). The Senate version does not include a provision to waive the 4 percent Medicare cut triggered by the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act. The reduction is a condition of the Statutory Pay As You Go (PAYGO) Act of 2010 and is implemented when Congress passes legislation that increases mandatory spending without an offset. The Senate version also adds six months to the length of the 2 percent Medicare sequester cut, extending the timeline through fiscal year 2030.
The Senate vote came just before a two-week recess in both chambers, so it is unlikely the House will come back to vote on the measure before April 1, when the cut is scheduled to take effect. If the House does not act before the end of the month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could put a hold on Medicare claims processing for a limited time.
Association Submits Statement on Infrastructure Hearing
America’s Essential Hospitals submitted a statement for the record in support of the hospital infrastructure provisions in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America (LIFT America) Act. In the statement, the association encourages Congress to ensure adequate hospital infrastructure funding and to target such funding to hospitals with limited resources that treat populations with the greatest needs.
