Medicare SGR Cut Takes Effect Tomorrow

Although the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to fix the SGR methodology, the Senate adjourned in March prior to addressing the bill. Without action, the 21% SGR cut took effect on April 1st. Acting under the assumption that the Senate will pass the bill once they resume session, Medicare has deliberately held claims for the past two weeks in an attempt to minimize the number of claims that will be processed at the lower rate.

However, as of Wednesday, April 15th, Medicare will begin releasing its claims again. Any claims with a date
of service of April 1st and later will see the 21% cut applied. Medicare states that if and when the government approves the bill to end SGR, they will automatically reprocess any claims that were paid at the low SGR rate and issue additional reimbursement.

For the full press release from Medicare, please visit the link below: NGS News and Alerts