The U.S. House of Representatives just passed the long overdue bill to permanently eliminate the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The bill, which received overwhelming bipartisan support from representatives, sets into motion Medicare physician payment reforms that will support physician practices that serve our nation’s seniors and military families enrolled in TRICARE.
Now the nation’s physicians must urge their members of the U.S. Senate to take similar action today to approve the policy and send it to the president’s desk before the current SGR payment patch expires on March 31. If the Senate does not take action, physicians will face a 21 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements that will force reductions in access to health care for America’s seniors and military personnel and their families.
If passed by the Senate, the bill will put an end to the 12-year cycle of Congress passing expensive patches to extend a policy that all agree was bad in the first place. It additionally extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program and provides support for community health centers.
Contact your senators and urge them to support H.R. 2 in any of the following ways:
- Call your lawmakers using the AMA’s toll-free Physicians Grassroots Hotline at 1-800-833-6354.
- Send an urgent email to your lawmakers reinforcing the need for SGR repeal now.
- Contact legislators directly through their own social media channels, and share your message with your own Facebook friends and Twitter followers.
Visit the Fix Medicare Now website for additional information on effort to repeal SGR and improve Medicare for our nation’s seniors.
Read about the provisions of the bill at AMA Wire®.
