Sen. Grassley seeks funding extension for hospitals to ensure Medicare reimbursements reflect local wages
According to Grassley spokesperson Jill Kozeny, the extension would allow Congress to consider revisions to the Medicare wage index proposed by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. She added that the extension would cost less than $100 million.
Grassley said that he would seek the extension as part of a Medicare package that Congress might consider during the lame-duck session scheduled to begin on Nov. 13.
A Grassley aide said that negotiations on the Medicare package have begun between House and Senate staff (CQ HealthBeat, 10/20). This article is republished with kind permission from our friends at the The Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery of in-depth coverage of health policy developments, debates and discussions. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for Kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Copyright 2006 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.