Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) yesterday offered a substitute amendment to the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213), the Senate's latest jobs bill. It contains several provisions that are critical to hospitals, including a six-month extension through June 30, 2011 of the Medicaid federal medical assistance percentage for states included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; an extension of the COBRA benefit subsidy; and a delay until Sept. 30 of the 21% Medicare payment cut for physicians that took effect yesterday. The amendment also contains extensions through 2010 of several rural health programs, and would ensure that hospital-based physicians, who practice in hospital-owned outpatient centers and clinics, qualify for federal health IT incentives under the ARRA. A vote is expected later this week.