U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-Texas), has introduced HR 6142, the Assuring Medicare Stability and Access for Seniors Act of 2012, which would temporarily delay the sustainable growth rate for another year.
The SGR is the mechanism used to determine payments for physicians on the Medicare physician fee schedule. Congress has bypassed the SGR every year since 2003, which has delayed cuts to physician payments. If the SGR is not repealed or temporarily fixed by this December, physicians will incur a roughly 28 percent cut to Medicare payments.
Dr. Burgess said a one-year extension of the SGR would keep Medicare payments stable as Congress looks for a long-term solution. A full repeal of the SGR would cost more than $300 billion.
"By providing one more year of stability, we make a critical, initial step towards ridding ourselves of this problematic and inadequate payment system," Dr. Burgess said in the news release. "Allowing for a one-year extension now will prove early to our seniors, physicians, and healthcare providers that they are at the forefront of our minds and our legislative agenda, and we will not leave them uncertain about how the upcoming 'fiscal cliff' will impact their care."
The SGR is the mechanism used to determine payments for physicians on the Medicare physician fee schedule. Congress has bypassed the SGR every year since 2003, which has delayed cuts to physician payments. If the SGR is not repealed or temporarily fixed by this December, physicians will incur a roughly 28 percent cut to Medicare payments.
Dr. Burgess said a one-year extension of the SGR would keep Medicare payments stable as Congress looks for a long-term solution. A full repeal of the SGR would cost more than $300 billion.
"By providing one more year of stability, we make a critical, initial step towards ridding ourselves of this problematic and inadequate payment system," Dr. Burgess said in the news release. "Allowing for a one-year extension now will prove early to our seniors, physicians, and healthcare providers that they are at the forefront of our minds and our legislative agenda, and we will not leave them uncertain about how the upcoming 'fiscal cliff' will impact their care."
More Articles on the Sustainable Growth Rate:
Physicians Go to Capitol Hill to Testify on Medicare's Physician Payment System
6 Points on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule for 2013
SGR Alternatives Considered, But Cost of Repeal is the "Elephant in the Room"