Legislation temporarily averting a 24% cut in Medicare physician fees passed through the Senate with a 64/35 vote Monday evening, March 31, 2014. The action, known as the “doc fix,” corrects the flawed payment methodology of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) through March 31, 2015. The bill passed through the House of Representatives last Thursday with a controversial voice vote.

H.R. 4302, which passed last Thursday with a controversial voice vote in the House, provides another temporary patch to the SGR by alleviating the steep decrease in Medicare fees for another 12 months.However, the bill currently being considered also delays the transition of ICD-9 to ICD-10 until at least October 1, 2015. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this evening.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence gave the nod to anesthesiologist assistant licensing by signing into law Senate Bill 233 on March 25, 2014.