The Senate has endorsed the House bill to scrap the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula used to set physicians’ Medicare rates.  Not included in the final bill which President Barack Obama intends to sign into law is wording recommending further one-year delay in use of ICD-10 codes. As a result, providers still should plan to use the new codes on Oct. 1, 2015, as currently required.
 
Other provisions in the bill that affect home health include $50,000 in surety bond coverage and a 1 percentage-point market basket reduction in 2018.
 
The final bill also omits the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommendation for a home health copay of $100 per episode, to affect beneficiaries whose episodes of care aren’t preceded by a hospital stay or by an inpatient post-acute stay.
 
 The “doc fix” legislation would specifically help the industry and beneficiaries by extending for another two years, until Jan. 1, 2018, the 3% add-on to Medicare reimbursement for care of patients living in rural areas.