The Senate passed H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act , April 14 by a vote of 92-8.

The bill matches the language that the House passed by an overwhelming majority on March 26 and clears the way for the White House to permanently end the practice of temporary “doc fix” patches necessitated by the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate formula.

President Obama indicated back in March that he would sign the bill into law.

The bill also extends funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program for 2 years.

A number of amendments, including attempts to reauthorize CHIP for 4 years and to enforce pay-as-you-go rules that require the bill be fully offset, did not gain the necessary 60 votes for adoption.

The latest cut, a 21% reduction to Medicare physician payments went into effect on April 1, but the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has been holding off on paying claims in anticipation of the bill’s passage. The agency had planned to pay the difference of the claims retroactively if there was a further delay in the passage.

gtwachtman@frontlinemedcom.com

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