A budget agreement announced Dec. 10 by Senate and House negotiators would hit home health providers with two more years of the 2% reduction in Medicare reimbursement required by the Budget Control Act that was passed in 2011.
 
The agreement includes a two-year extension of the Medicare provider sequester in a package of amendments the House will vote on initially as companion legislation to a related Senate package. As stated in Sec. 205 of the House legislation, the 2% sequester would remain in place until 2023, when the reduction would increase to 2.9% in  the first six months of the year and fall to 1.11% in the second half of the year.
 
The legislation, which would avoid another government shutdown for two years, is expected to receive favorable, bipartisan support in both houses and be signed by President Obama. — Burt Schorr (burt.schorr1@verizon.net)   
 
Editor’s note: See the House provisions under the budget agreement at: http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20131209/AMNT-113-HJRes59sa-2.pdf.