BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, and other rural hospitals around the nation that depend on a Medicare reimbursement program to stay solvent, will have to wait just a bit longer.
On March 26, in a rare show of bipartisanship between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, the U.S. House passed The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 2) by a vote of 392 to 37.
The House vote to repeal permanently an automatic 21 percent payment cut to doctors under Medicare came just five days before a March 31 deadline.
However, the Senate chose not to take up the bill. On March 27, that legislative body decided to wait until it returns from its two-week Easter Recess on April 13 to vote on the measure.
Even though the current system expired on March 31, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says it takes at least 14 days to pay claims from doctors and hospitals, so there may be just enough time to avoid disruption.
Gina Patterson, BMH Director of Development and Marketing, said on March 27 that while the hospital was pleased that the House passed the bill, they are waiting for the Senate to take action before staffers can stop worrying.
“We're hopeful the Senate will pass the bill,” she said. “Time is of the essence at this point.”
The $214 billion bill also contains a provision authored by Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., to extend for two years the Medicare Dependent and Low Volume Hospital program.
This program boosts reimbursements to rural hospitals, as well as hospitals serving disproportionately large numbers of older adults.
BMH is one of three Vermont hospitals - Central Vermont Health Care in Berlin and Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans are the other two - that receive increased reimbursements under this provision.
At a March 13 news conference, BMH President and CEO Steve Gordon said the Medicare Dependent Hospital program delivers about $4 million a year to the hospital and called it “the one issue that determines whether we're in the red or in the black.”
Gordon said 60 percent of BMH's patients are on Medicare, but that the center only receives about 40 cents of reimbursement from Medicare for every dollar of health care provided.
H.R. 2 also reauthorizes the federal Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years and provides $8 billion in funding for community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, and Teaching Health Centers.
Before leaving for their recess on March 27, Senate leaders expressed optimism that their chamber would pass the bill quickly when they return to Washington.