The House of Representatives and the Senate have agreed to pass a two-month payroll tax cut extension bill that includes a measure to delay the 27% cut in Medicare physician reimbursement for two months.

"With this brief reprieve from the massive 27% cut to Medicare payments, Congress now has to enact a real and fiscally responsible solution to this sorry cycle of scheduled cuts and short-term patches that compromises access to care for patients and drives up costs for taxpayers," said American Medical Association President Peter W. Carmel, MD. "Members of Congress need to use this time to work in a bipartisan manner to provide long-term stability for seniors, military families and the physicians who care for them."