President Obama Signs the “Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013”

January 9, 2014

Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

On December 26, 2013, President Obama signed into law the Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013. This new law prevents a scheduled payment reduction for physicians and other practitioners who treat Medicare patients from taking effect on January 1, 2014. It also provides for a 0.5 percent update for such services through March 31, 2014.
 
The Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013 extends several provisions of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Job Creation Act) as well as provisions of the Affordable Care Act. This includes the extension of ambulance add-on payments as follows:

Section 1104 – Extension of Ambulance Add-On Payments. Section 1104 extends the following two Job Creation Act ambulance payment provisions: (1) the 3 percent increase in the ambulance fee schedule amounts for covered ground ambulance transports that originate in rural areas and the 2 percent increase for covered ground ambulance transports that originate in urban areas is extended through March 31, 2014; and (2) the provision relating to payment for ground ambulance services that increases the base rate for transports originating in an area that is within the lowest 25th percentile of all rural areas arrayed by population density (known as the “super rural” bonus) is extended through March 31, 2014. The provision relating to air ambulance services that continued to treat as rural any area that was designated as rural on December 31, 2006, for purposes of payment under the ambulance fee schedule, expired on June 30, 2013.

Click here for details on other Medicare fee-for-service policies that have been extended, as well as Medicare billing and claims processing information associated with the new legislation.