Last night,on a bipartisan vote of 92 to 8, the Senate passed H.R. 2, the “Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act,” or MACRA.
Although six amendments were considered on the floor, none reached the threshold required for passage. As a result, the Senate passed bill was identical to the version that passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming 392-37 margin on March 26.
We expect the bill to be sent to the White House tonight, where President Obama has said he would sign it into law.
Medicare should begin processing claims today, April 15, for services provided in April at the rates that were effective before the 21 percent cut was scheduled to take effect. Under the provisions of H.R. 2, the fee schedule conversion factor will be increased by 0.5 percent on July 1, 2015, and by another 0.5 percent on January 1, 2016.
