The U.S. House of Representatives has now passed H.R. 674, which will remove the three percent withholding provision originally created under the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005. The Senate passed the legislation a week earlier.

The three percent withholding provision would have burdened physicians who care for Medicare patients. While this is an important step forward, more work still needs to be done on Medicare reimbursement since physicians face a 27 percent cut on Jan. 1. The time is now for Congress to fix the Sustainable Growth Rate formula.

Contact Indiana’s congressional delegation and ask members to act quickly to stabilize the Medicare system and ensure continued access for Medicare patients. For contact information, see the ISMA website.