Society Continue Advocacy Efforts

Society members helped us score another legislative victory. Last week, the Senate voted 90-2 to pass an agreement reached by Leaders Schumer and McConnell to extend the 2 percent Medicare sequester moratorium that expires on April 1. The bipartisan legislation, offered as an amendment by Sens. Shaheen and Collins, would provide a nine-month extension of the moratorium, through December 31. It also contains some technical corrections related to rural health clinics and disproportionate share hospitals. Hundreds of Society members wrote letters to their Congressional delegations describing how cuts to PALTC services would be devastating to the nation’s vulnerable seniors who require more care oversight now more than ever.

 The House of Representatives passed different legislation earlier that would both extend the moratorium through the end of the pandemic and eliminate an additional 4 percent Medicare sequester scheduled to take effect on January 1, which was required by PayGo rules to offset part of the cost of passing the American Rescue Plan COVID-19/stimulus package. Consequently, the House will need to pass the Senate language when it returns from its Easter recess in mid-April. The House is expected to vote favorably, and CMS is expected to hold off on processing April claims until then to avoid making reduced payments.

 Physician and other stakeholder groups affected by the upcoming 4% sequester scheduled for January 1 expect legislation to be considered later in the year to waive those cuts. The Society will continue to stress that any cut to these services is unacceptable.

Thank you to all Society members who continue to play a vital role in our advocacy efforts!