Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Virtual Health
    • - Future of Healthcare Staffing
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Providers
December 18, 2013 12:00 AM

Budget bill with short-term SGR fix clears Congress, ready for Obama to sign

Jessica Zigmond
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    The Senate on Wednesday approved the House-passed budget agreement that also extends Medicare's current physician payment levels through March, averting a 23.7% payment cut to doctors on Jan. 1.

    In a 64-36 vote, the upper chamber passed the two-year budget deal that includes a temporary fix to Medicare's problematic sustainable growth-rate formula and extends some expiring Medicare and other healthcare programs.

    Last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (PDF) estimated the cost for the short-term physician payment fix and the other healthcare provisions will cost about $8.3 billion over 10 years. Lawmakers agreed to pay for that in large part by revamping the payment system for the nation's long-term acute-care hospitals.

    The budget agreement, which now moves to President Barack Obama's desk, sets top-line spending levels for the next two years. It leaves it up to congressional appropriators to draft individual spending bills for all federal departments by Jan. 15, the expiration date on a short-term resolution funding the government.

    Cheering the passage of the House bill late last week, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said in a statement he's confident that he and his colleagues on the House and Senate appropriations committees are "up to the task" of drafting, negotiating and passing the appropriations bills in just over one month.

    The general consensus in Washington is that lawmakers will reach agreements quickly in order to avert another government shutdown.

    Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the left-of-center Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the higher spending level in the budget deal will make it easier for them to do so rather than defer to automatic sequestration cuts triggered by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

    The Labor, HHS and Education appropriations legislation, however, is always one of the more troublesome bills, he said, because it contains several difficult issues that lawmakers must address. Van De Water cited administration spending levels for the CMS as one example because it provides the levels for administering health reform.

    The budget agreement itself has a modest effect on the healthcare sector, according to Van de Water. It adds another two years of 2% Medicare sequestration cuts—which the nation's hospitals criticized last week—but it also allows more discretionary spending for the National Institutes of Health and other programs.

    All of Washington's significant challenges- including a permanent repeal of the SGR and longer-term fiscal issues—have yet to be addressed, he noted. And more substantial changes to Medicare could likely play a part in those larger budget discussions.

    Meanwhile, lawmakers face another potential spending showdown in the new year when Congress again must raise the nation's debt ceiling. If Republicans treat it as another opportunity for “budget hostage-taking,” Van de Water said, “Medicare will be one of the hostages.”

    Follow Jessica Zigmond on Twitter: @MHjzigmond

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    colorful-people_i_i.png
    The Joint Commission to add health equity standards to accreditations
    Supporting a truly diverse C-suite
    Supporting a truly diverse C-suite
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare A.M. Newsletter: Sign up to receive a comprehensive weekday morning newsletter designed for busy healthcare executives who need the latest and most important healthcare news and analysis.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Virtual Health
        • - Future of Healthcare Staffing
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing