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The House approved a bill to kill Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, HR 3961, by a 243-183 vote. The main question now is what's next? It's headed to the Senate, where a similar SGR bill failed get enough votes last month. The Senate might not act on the bill and just let it die.

CMS will no longer recognize the code Q2024 (Bevacizumab, or Avastin) for payment of nonoutpatient hospital claims, the agency announced.  The code will be deleted from Medicare's Average Sales Price (ASP) file starting Jan. 1. CMS wants you to return to previous reporting practices for "small intraocular doses" of the cancer fighting drug.

The AMA is again pushing for federal lawmakers to pass a bill that eliminates the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula from calculating Medicare payments for physicians. A vote on the "doc fix" bill HR 3691 might happen in the House this week, according to published reports.

The latest RAC target signals a need to check claims for global procedures.

A report by CMS's Office of the Actuary details more than $500 billion in savings/cuts found in the House health reform bill, which passed the House on Nov. 7. The Washington Post summarizes the actuary's findings in an article with the headline "Report: Bill would reduce senior care" and subhead "Medicare cuts approved by House may affect access to providers."

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