House to Vote March 27 to Delay ICD-10, Medicare Payment Cuts

The U.S. House of Representatives on March 27 plans to vote on fast-track legislation to delay the ICD-10 compliance date by one year to Oct. 1, 2015. The legislation also would delay Medicare payment cuts to physicians under the Sustainable Growth Rate formula until April 1, 2015.  Currently, the payment cuts go into effect on April 1, 2014.

The American Health Information Management Association opposes an ICD-10 delay and is urging members to call House Speaker John Boehner (R) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) and ask for removal of the language.

AHIMA argues delaying the new code sets would greatly diminish the return on investment for electronic health records and health information exchange. The costs of a delay also represent 10 to 30 percent of what stakeholders already have invested in getting ready for ICD-10, the organization contends.

The ICD-10 language comprises one paragraph in Sec. 212 of the 121-page bill, available here. According to AHIMA, the bill was negotiated at the leadership level in the House and Senate.