Sequester means 2% Medicare cut to health care providers on April 1

It’s no April Fool’s joke: Brace for a 2% Medicare pay cut starting April 1 now that Congress and the president have failed to reach a deficit-reduction agreement to avoid $85 billion in federal spending cuts known as the sequester.

The deadline for an agreement was March 1, but the pay cut won’t kick in for another month, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The Medicare cut will impact physicians, hospitals, other health care providers, health plans, and prescription drug plans but will not directly impact beneficiaries.

Although the 2% cut is lower than the reductions in other federal agencies, physicians said it will still have a significant impact. Dr. Jeremy Lazarus, president of the American Medical Association, said that the cut comes at an especially bad time because physician payment rates have risen only about 4% over the last decade or so while the cost of caring for patients has climbed by more than 20%.

http://www.clinicalendocrinologynews.com/news/clinical-news/single-article/sequester-means-2-medicare-cut-on-april-1/831a366826cb0981796934d54d09293c.html