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.