Senate votes to extend moratorium on Medicare sequester cuts

March 26, 2021

The Senate has passed S.748 – A Bill to Provide for an Extension of the Temporary Suspension of Medicare Sequestration During The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency which extends the moratorium on a 2% Medicare sequester through the public health emergency for COVID-19, which is likely to run through 2021. The cuts are set to go into effect on March 31. The bill is separate from legislation passed in the House last week, which extended the moratorium through December 31. The House is on recess and cannot take this up until their return after the March 31 expiration, which means CMS could withhold payments for claims until after the moratorium is officially extended so they are not processed twice.   

LUGPA has continually called on Congress to take action that would postpone Medicare payment cuts caused by the sequestration before the cuts take hold on March 31 as our practices continue to recover from the debilitating costs of the pandemic. We will provide further updates as they become available as we continue to monitor the progress of this legislation toward final passage.

House passes legislation to extend sequester moratorium

March 19, 2021 

Today, the House of Representatives passed HR 1868 To prevent across-the-board direct spending cuts, and for other purposes. The bill includes an extension of the Medicare sequester moratorium, set to expire at the end of this month, through December 31, 2021. LUGPA has strongly advocated for extending the moratorium on sequester cuts to Medicare providers, and was a signatory on a letter from a coalition of 43 health care groups to Congressional leaders earlier this month encouraging them to pass legislation to prevent Medicare cuts that threaten the financial viability of physician practices during the public health emergency.

A Senate version of the bill, S 748 A bill to provide for an extension of the temporary suspension of Medicare sequestration during the COVID-19 public health emergency, has been introduced and referred to the Committee on Finance. LUGPA will provide further updates when they become available as we continue to monitor the progress of this legislation.