In order to move $5.2 billion from the closing fiscal year to the new one, beginning October 1, the federal government will not send providers Medicare reimbursements until after that date. Providers will be paid in full but won’t receive interest on the delayed payments.
According to Herb Kuhn, director of the Center for Medicare Management at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), providers have not complained to his agency about the so-called Medicare holiday. Providers may not have launched formal complaints with CMS, but they are not happy about the delay, of course. From the Associated Press:
Dr. Arthur Wise, a plastic surgeon in New York’s Long Island, and others are not happy about it. Dr. Wise says the hold is unfair and underhanded…For most hospitals, nursing homes and others, the hold will serve more as a frustration than a financial strain, said Chris Jennings, a health policy analyst who used to work in the Clinton administration.
“I think they get frustrated with these games, but I think they’ll survive,” Mr. Jennings said. “It’s just another game, another burden they don’t want to bear.”
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At the American Medical Association’s annual meeting, doctors in New York introduced a resolution stating that because they do not get a “financial responsibility holiday,” the hold should be repealed.
