You'll continue to see a flat Medicare payment update until at least March 31 after a late Senate vote on March 2 to prevent the 21.2% cut from taking effect for another month.

The vote came after holdout Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) dropped his objection to passing the measure in exchange for a vote on an amendment to offset the additional spending in the legislation with cuts elsewhere in the budget, according to a report in The Washington Post. The amendment failed, but the agreement set the stage for the whole bill to pass 78-19. It was signed by President Obama.

CMS had said earlier this week that it would delay processing claims for up to 10 days to allow Congress to pass a fix to the pay cut. This action makes it likely that you will not see any claims processed at the lower pay rate and should see minimal, if any, delays in your claims processing.

Look for additional coverage in the next issue of Part B News and on www.partbnews.com.