Congress gains time on Medicare cuts

Congress regularly has restored the cut in the past, but lawmakers failed to do so this year. The House voted to delay the cut by an overwhelming margin of 355-59. But last week, the Senate failed by one vote to get the 60 votes needed to stave off the cut.

The AMA said Bush's action yesterday is only temporary.

"The 10.6 percent Medicare cut will take place on July 1, but Medicare claims will not be paid at the slashed rate in the first 10 days of July because under law Medicare holds claims for 14 days," Nielsen said. "In early July, Medicare will not be paying claims at the reduced rate because they are not paying claims. Unless Congress acts to stop the cuts, Medicare claims will begin to be paid at the reduced rate in mid-July."

The Bush administration, meanwhile, said it would hold "claims that are delivered on or after July 1," said Jeff Nelligan, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. "CMS will not be making any payments on the 10.6 percent reduction until July 15, at the earliest."

Bruce Jepsen writes for the Chicago Tribune.