Amendment threatens existence of CLASS Act in Senate bill

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has suspended a 21.2% cut in physician pay that took effect Monday.

CMS has asked contractors to hold claims paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 10 business days in hopes that a legislative solution can be found to the physician pay dilemma. Having anticipated the cuts, CMS issued guidance on Friday after the Senate recessed for the weekend. Provider cash flow likely will not be interrupted as a result of this situation, federal regulators said.

The pay cuts went into effect after Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) last week repeatedly blocked a Senate bill that would have delayed them for at least 30 days. An extension of unemployment benefits through COBRA was also part of the bill.