April 14th, Senate voted to approve a permanent fix for the sustainable growth rate (SGR) by a vote of 92 to 8. The bill now heads to the President’s desk for signature.
As part of consideration of the SGR bill, Senators Cardin (D-MD) and Vitter (R-LA) proposed an amendment to permanently repeal the Medicare therapy caps. Under agreement established by Senate leadership the amendment required 60 votes to pass. Despite obtaining the most votes of any amendment offered this evening, the therapy cap repeal effort failed by a vote of 58 to 42.
The overall legislation to repeal and replace the SGR is expected to be signed by the President. Under the bill, the therapy cap exceptions process will continue for 2 years until December 31, 2017.
APTA will issue additional information regarding Medicare claims processing along with additional information regarding structural changes planned as the replacement for the SGR. APTA applauds and thanks the thousands of APTA members who weighed in with legislators in support of repealing the Medicare therapy cap.
