President Obama signed legislation (HR 3630), Feb.22, that extends the payroll tax cut, continues unemployment benefits and delays scheduled cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement rates for ten more months.
The $143 billion package contains a "Doc Fix" that will delay the Medicare rate decreases through the end of 2012 when physicians will than face about a 32% reduction in Medicare payments.
To fund the $18 billion needed to avert physician fee cuts, the agreement includes several health-related offsets that would save $21.2 billion over a decade. Cuts include: