Van Hollen: Doc fix biggest hurdle in getting extenders through the Senate

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Wednesday the "doc fix" is the number one hurdle in getting the Senate to support legislation extending several tax and spending measures. 

"As I understand it, the biggest issue is the doc fix," he said. "The other piece of it has been the composition of carried interest. Those are two things that we are having continued negotiations on." 

The "doc fix" refers to delaying a cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors. The bill currently fixes the situation for five years and costs approximately $88 billion. This figure also does not require offset, according to pay-as-you-go rules. But senators are balking at its price tag and want to shorten the length of the fix by about four years.  

"That is something the Senate has been talking about, but no decisions have been made," Van Hollen said.

Van Hollen is the Assistant to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and sits on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee that is charged with drafting the extender bill. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) also sits on Ways and Means and favors a five-year doc fix. 

"That sounds reasonable to me," he told reporters. 

Neal refused to comment on whether carried interest was causing support problems in the Senate. The provision ultimately taxes compensation designated as "carried interest" at ordinary income rates. Several senators have expressed concern over the measure, saying the tax increase would have negative consequences on the economy. 

Some senators seek to strike the carried interest provision from the bill. But Van Hollen said it was "premature" to say if such talk was gaining ground in the House.