The Senate voted March 14 to approve a government funding bill that extends key healthcare provisions, delays Medicaid disproportionate share hospital cuts and provides additional support for rural hospitals.

The legislation, which heads to President Donald Trump for approval, passed the Senate in a 54-46 vote.

The House had earlier passed the bill on March 11 in a 217-213 vote, ensuring government operations continue through Sept. 30. Key healthcare provisions in the bill include:

However, the bill does not address the 2.83% Medicare physician pay cut, a major setback for physicians and medical groups. A temporary 2.5% Medicare physician pay bump that took effect Jan. 1 is absent from the funding package. The legislation does, however, renew a boost to the Medicare work geographic practice cost index, which benefits rural physicians.

"The passage of the CR without a Medicare physician payment fix represents a massive congressional failure," Anders Gilberg, senior vice president of government affairs for the Medical Group Management Association, said in a March 14 statement shared with Becker's. "To avoid this annual chaos, which increasingly threatens beneficiary access to care, Congress must realize permanent, sustainable solutions, such as implementing an annual, inflation-based physician payment update tied to the full Medicare Economic Index and modernizing Medicare's antiquated budget neutrality policies."

Later this month, the Senate is set to vote on a Republican-backed bill that aims to cut federal spending by up to $2 trillion over 10 years. The proposal calls for at least $880 billion in reductions through fiscal 2034, with Medicaid likely facing the deepest cuts.

A March 5 Congressional Budget Office report found that achieving $880 billion in savings would require substantial cuts to Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program.