The moratorium on the two percent sequestration of Medicare payments could be extended under a bill the U.S. House of Representatives may consider this week.

If adopted, the bill would extend the sequester delay for nine months, providing financial relief that many health care providers seek as they continue to deal with the financial challenges posed by COVID-19.

The sequester delay was implemented early in the pandemic as a means of providing additional Medicare revenue to hospitals and other health care providers at a time when many people were delaying seeking medical attention out of fear of contracting COVID-19.

Without action by Congress, the current delay of the Medicare sequester will expire at the end of March.

SNAP has urged Congress to extend the Medicare sequestration delay on a number of occasions, doing so most recently in this February 5 letter to members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation.

Learn more about the latest effort to extend the Medicare sequester delay in the Fierce Healthcare article “House to vote later this week on bill to delay Medicare sequestration payment cuts.”