WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure this week that would delay the anticipated 21.2 percent Medicare physician pay cut until March 1, 2010, according to a congressional news release.

The measure, part of H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, is under consideration by the Senate this week. The measure is intended to allow time for Congress to permanently "fix" what many lawmakers and stakeholders consider a flawed physician pay formula.

The measure comes in the 11th hour, as physicians were expected to take the pay cut on Jan. 1, 2010. Congress has been working to add a permanent fix to healthcare reform bills, or to pass a free-standing bill to change how physicians are paid under Medicare.

One such fix is the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 3961), passed by the House this fall, which would repeal and replace the current Medicare physician payment formula, or the sustainable growth rate (SGR).

All action on a physician payment fix now lies with the Senate, which first must pass the Defense spending bill to delay the physician pay cuts until March 1. A vote on that was expected this week, Capitol Hill sources said.

In October, the Senate voted against a bill introduced by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) that would have frozen physician payments where they currently stand for 10 years. The bill would have cost a quarter of a billion dollars.

J. James Rohack, MD, president of the American Medical Association said it is critical that Congress fix the broken Medicare physician payment formula "once and for all."

In a Dec. 16 statement,  Rohack said the temporary House pay cut suspension would allow physicians to continue to care for Medicare patients. He urged the Senate to quickly take action to join the House in passing a permanent fix.