Last night the U.S. Senate passed the Temporary Extenders Act of 2010 (HR 4691) and the President signed it into law. The new law stops the scheduled 21 percent payment cut to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, extends unemployment benefits, and other provisions for 30 days, allowing CMS carriers to pay physician claims they have been holding since Sunday without the 21 percent cut.
While HR 4691 did not include most of the “rural extenders”, which includes the Technical Component (TC) Grandfather fix, it is reportedly likely that this week the Senate will take up another bill, the Tax Extender Act of 2009 (HR 4213) which does include the extenders and the TC Grandfather fix (retroactive to Jan 1, 2010 and through Dec 31, 2010). HR 4213 would also extend the SGR fix through September 31, 2010. Senator Grassley (R-IA) is also expected to offer an amendment extending the SGR fix through the end of 2010.