In Washington
FY03 budget accord reached…
The House and Senate have approved the final omnibus spending bill for FY03. Unfortunately, the IME payment will remain at 5.5 percent for the fiscal year. The agreement does not address the need for additional funding in the Medicare+Choice program and the 15 percent reduction in home health also remains in place. However, the measure corrects the Medicare payment formula flaw for physicians that would have cut 2003 payments by 4.4 percent. Instead, the Congressional Budget Office expects that physicians will receive a 1.6 increase. The bill also contains $518 million in funding for hospital bioterrorism preparedness, more than had been proposed by either the House or Senate. The FY03 funding level for the NIH will be $27 billion, $3.6 billion more than FY02. Finally, the measure includes $15 million in funding for the Nurse Reinvestment Act, which is designed to improve recruitment and retention of nurses.