March 19, 2021 / Mallory Hackett, Associate Editor
The House passed a bill on Friday to extend the moratorium on 2% Medicare payment cuts caused by a federal budget sequestration and avert $36 billion in payment cuts triggered by the American Rescue Plan.
Legislators voted 246 to 175 to pass H.R.1868, which postpones Medicare sequester payment cuts until the end of the year and exempts the budgetary effects of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill from the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. 
Hospitals, physicians and other providers have expressed their relief.
“America’s hospitals and health systems thank the U.S. House of Representatives for passing legislation today that extends relief from pending Medicare cuts to doctors and hospitals that are slated to resume at the beginning of next month,” said Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where it needs 60 votes to pass before the current moratorium ends on March 31.
