The White House health care summit got underway at 10 a.m. You can watch live video of the summit streaming from CSPAN below. We'll be watching/listening for any Medicare-related news. Enjoy!

Senate Democrats are working on a 30-day Medicare payment patch that would delay the 21% cut to March 28. It's unknown if Republicans will support the measure, which includes several other extensions.

The Congressional Budget Office says the Medicare provision in the "Temporary Extension Act of 2010" would cost about $1 billion.

We'll have more in the next issue of Part B News and www.PartBNews.com later this week.

Medical societies and associations have increased pressure and lobbying on Capitol Hill to pass a permanent pay fix to the budget mechanism responsible for the 21% cut to Medicare payments set for March 1. However, as of this morning, there's still no clear answer as to how Congress plans to address it.

When you put patients on a payment plan, it's a good idea to codify the agreement with a written and signed form. You don't want the same person walking back in for an appointment and saying "payment plan? I don't know nothin' about no stinkin' payment plan!" To simplify things, I'm reposting a sample payment plan agreement form based on a form actually being used by a real practice.

President Barack Obama posted his own health care reform bill Monday morning. I gave the 11-page summary document a quick scan and couldn't find language that temporarily or permanently addresses Medicare payment rates. If and when a complete version is posted, I'm guessing a pay-fix to the annual sustainable growth rate (SGR) cuts won't be there because such provisions cost at least $250 billion (thus, very difficult to offset with new taxes and/or spending cuts elsewhere). You still need to look elsewhere for a Medicare payment fix.