Friday, April 16, 2021 This Week’s Dose Congress returned from recess and took up sequester relief and confirmations for key healthcare positions. The White House released the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2022 discretionary budget request late last week. Congress President Signed Sequester Relief The House of Representatives passed a bill by a vote of 384 to 38 to suspend the Medicare sequester through the end of 2021. President Biden swiftly signed the legislation, which the Senate passed last month. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had held provider claims with dates of service on or after April 1, 2021, to give Congress time to avert the 2% cut and is expected to resume payments shortly. While this is welcome relief for providers and plans, they will need to plan for the possibility of greater cuts triggered by the American Rescue Plan (ARP), unless Congress can be persuaded to waive Statutory Pay-As-You-Go requirements later this year. The policy requires that automatic payment cuts be put into place if a statutory action is projected to create a net increase in the deficit over either five or 10 years. Most budget-watchers expect the ARP to trigger an additional 4% cut to Medicare payments without congressional action.