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The American Medical Association is urging Congress to work quickly to find a way to pay for a permanent repeal of Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate formula, before the current short-term patch expires on March 31.
During a press conference on Feb. 10, AMA President Ardis Dee Hoven put the organization’s full support behind the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act (H.R. 4015/S. 2000), which eliminates the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and provides 0.5% physician payment increases for 5 years. The bill, which was introduced simultaneously in the House and Senate on Feb. 6, consolidates Medicare’s quality incentive programs and phases in new payment models.
Dr. Ardis Dee Hoven
But the AMA remains opposed to another short-term SGR fix, including a proposal that would avert physician pay cuts under Medicare for another 9 months.
"This whole concept of continued patching is fiscally irresponsible," Dr. Hoven said. "It undermines continually the stability of the program."
Without some type of SGR fix, either short-term or long-term, Medicare physician payments are set to drop about 24% on April 1.
But approving a permanent SGR repeal in the next several weeks hinges on whether lawmakers can agree on how to pay for it. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cost could run as high as $150 billion over 10 years.
Dr. Hoven said the AMA would not make recommendations on how to offset the cost of the bill, but they would offer an opinion once lawmakers put a specific proposal on the table.
"Right now, the momentum is there," Dr. Hoven said. "These conversations have been ongoing for years. They simply need to get this done and get it done now."
mschneider@frontlinemedcom.com
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