The National Journal reported yesterday:
Legislators on Thursday unveiled a bicameral, bipartisan proposal to repeal and replace the sustainable growth rate formula, which determines Medicare payments for physicians. One expert called it “above and beyond” anything else he’s ever seen.
It’s “above and beyond” because previously, Congress has repeatedly kicked the recurring Medicare-payments problem down the road. Perhaps you’ve heard of the annual “doc-fix” bill? This current proposal, flowing from efforts in both branches of Congress, suggests we actually fix the problem.
How is this related to tax-extenders?
Annual tax-extenders legislation is similar to the recurring Medicare doc-fix and will be dealt with by many of the same Congressional players. Paul Suplizio, President of the WOTC Coalition, noted this morning that the draft bill to fix the “doc-fix” is the first overt step towards an overall tax-extenders bill.
The tax-writing committees’ preparing a bill for passage before December 31st to avoid disruption in doctors’ willingness to see Medicare patients is a first step toward a year-end extenders bill. The prospect of a bill drawn up by Ways and Means and Finance to cover expiring tax provisions like WOTC is now a reality.
We can look forward to decisions by Senator Baucus and Congressman Camp on extending tax code provisions due to expire at year-end, including WOTC and VOW To Hire Heroes Act veterans tax credits, but we don’t expect those decisions until around Thanksgiving.
Last summer, the House of Representatives began expressing interest in actually fixing these recurring problems. In June 2012, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing to discuss how to evaluate the numerous tax incentive programs caught up in the tax-extenders process.
The conclusion? As part of comprehensive tax reform, Congress would eventually evaluate each program caught up in the recurring tax-extender problem. Programs found worthy of further use will be made permanent — the rest dropped for good.
For now, a comprehensive fix will probably have to wait. Unlike most other federal tax incentive programs, however, a permanent Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is actually on the table this year. Both the White House and Democratic Senate Leaders already express support for permanent WOTC. Most Republican House members, on the other hand, are not yet fully on board.
Republican members of the House of Representatives are therefore the prime targets for immediate lobbying efforts. This is the subject of today’s brief from the WOTC Coalition’s Paul Suplizio.
The following is published here with permission.
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Subject: Tax-Writing Committees Take First Step
Toward December Extenders Bill
From: “Paul Suplizio” <wotc@cox.net>
November 1, 2013
Yesterday, the chairmen and ranking minority members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees announced a bi-partisan discussion draft for a permanent solution to what has been called the Medicare “doc fix,”—an annual rite where Congress passes a bill to block a 24% cut in Medicare doctors’ payments scheduled to take effect on January 1st under current law.
The tax-writing committees’ preparing a bill for passage before December 31st to avoid disruption in doctors’ willingness to see Medicare patients is a first step toward a year-end extenders bill. The prospect of a bill drawn up by Ways and Means and Finance to cover expiring tax provisions like WOTC is now a reality.
We can look forward to decisions by Senator Baucus and Congressman Camp on extending tax code provisions due to expire at year-end, including WOTC and VOW To Hire Heroes Act veterans tax credits, but we don’t expect those decisions until around Thanksgiving.
The tax-writing committees proposing an extenders bill is a long way from getting a bill passed in both houses. The proposed “permanent” doc fix would freeze fee-for-service doctors’ payments for ten years while allowing performance incentive payments, so will be controversial. Blocking the 24% doctors’ pay hike alone will cost the Treasury $150 billion, making this a major bill. We can argue the doc-fix bill should be a stand-alone measure, but with time running out before Congress adjourns in mid-December, that’s unlikely to work. For the tax extenders, it may be the last ship leaving port.
Many House Republicans will lean to voting “no” on any bill adding to the deficit, so an extenders bill may need to be passed with Democratic votes. This means whether the bill gets a vote at all will depend on Speaker Boehner’s willingness to allow a vote.
We reiterate: it’s imperative we use the time we have now to re-double our efforts urging every Republican in the House and Senate to work to make WOTC a permanent part of the tax code. Our relations with key Democratic members are firm, and are reinforced by the President’s support for permanent WOTC.
Republican senators and Speaker Boehner, Congressman Camp, and Congressman Ryan need to be persuaded that WOTC belongs permanently in the tax code, and they will be persuaded if they hear often enough from their colleagues—our own Republican congressman and senators—that WOTC should be made permanent in the next tax bill Congress brings up.
Our best chance of success is when we, our clients, and people in states where we have operations, contact Republican congressmen and senators targeted in our 50-state lobbying plan and urge them to tell their leaders they support making WOTC permanent in the tax code.
PAUL E. SUPLIZIO
President, WOTC Coalition