With a Feb. 8 funding deadline approaching, Congress needs to address several items of unfinished business, namely the expiring Medicare rural ambulance and home health add-ons, the low-volume payment adjustment and a delay in the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) cuts due to take effect this year.
Rumors continue to persist that the extenders package provisions could be considered as a part of the next spending package vote which must occur before the Feb. 8 deadline.
Throughout this process, medical providers remain at risk of further Medicare and Medicaid cuts. These cuts could be considered to offset the anticipated increases in the spending caps or to pay for extending the expiring Medicare provisions.
This means the next few weeks will be critical. Our message to the South Dakota congressional delegation is: NO more Medicare payment cuts! Please continue to reach out to Sen. Rounds and Sen. Thune and Rep. Noem requesting they support the rural extenders package.
