Endocrine Insider
November 12, 2009

(See Full Issue)

On Saturday, November 7, the House passed the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” (HR 3962) by a vote of 220-215.The bill includes a public option with negotiated rates for participating physicians, creates a licensure pathway for follow-on biologics through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), eliminates the pre-existing conditions limitation imposed by insurers, and establishes an Office of Minority Health at a number of federal agencies, including the FDA.

The bill does not include a fix for the 21.5 percent physician payment cut scheduled for January 1, 2010.This portion of the original House health reform legislation was removed and covered in a separate bill, the “Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act” (HR 3961).This bill provides a 1.2 percent increase for 2010. Starting in 2011, the bill would set two separate targets for the growth rate of Medicare physician expenditures. 

One target would cover all preventive services and evaluation and management services, and the second target would cover all other physician services.Yearly updates would likely differ for the two categories.The bill will likely be considered by the full House during the week of November 16^th.

The health reform process in the Senate is still at a standstill as the leadership awaits a score from the Congressional Budget Office, which is expected later this week.The timing of the Senate vote is still unclear, and it may not happen until after the New Year.After a Senate bill passes, it will be merged with the House bill passed this weekend.