Joint legislation to repeal Medicare’s fatally flawed physician payment formula, announced Thursday, received AMA support Monday in a call for Congress to fast-track the landmark legislation. The AMA and 111 other medical associations also sent a joint letter to both chambers of Congress Monday afternoon, urging lawmakers to seize this opportunity to eliminate the SGR formula.
“Congress has been debating the shortcomings of the SGR policy for more than a decade, and now a solution to this failed policy is finally at hand,” the letter states. “It is time to take action.”
An AMA letter of support to the leaders of the three congressional committees called the bipartisan, bicameral legislation a “significant accomplishment.”
“The SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act will establish a transition to a more stable Medicare physician payment policy that better serves America’s senior citizens, veterans, military families and people with disabilities,” AMA President Ardis Dee Hoven, MD, said in a press release.
A synthesis of three earlier bills, this joint legislation would deliver important improvements over current law, and it reflects many AMA recommendations for supporting enhancements in health care delivery. In addition to eliminating the instability and uncertainty generated by the SGR formula, the bill provides for:
- Automatic positive payment updates. The bill provides a 0.5 percent update for five years.
- A consolidated and restructured Medicare quality reporting program. The streamlined program would be more flexible than the separate programs under current law and provide an opportunity for bonus payments rather than simply piling on penalties.
- Physician-developed quality standards. The bill sets aside funding for physicians to create the quality standards by which they will be measured.
- A pathway to new models of care delivery and payment. The bill includes a 5 percent bonus payment for physician practices that successfully participate in the new models, and small practices can qualify for technical assistance.
- Medical liability protections. Provisions included from the Standard of Care Protection Act introduced to Congress last year would limit inappropriate medical liability claims.
“The legislation represents not only critical payment and delivery reform, but prudent fiscal policy as well,” Dr. Hoven said.
Over the last 12 years, Congress has spent $153.7 billion on SGR patches—far more than the cost of permanently reforming the Medicare physician payment system.
Decisive congressional action is needed now. Urge your lawmakers to seize this opportunity to strengthen Medicare and end the costly pattern of short-term patches. Tell them to vote as soon as possible in support of repealing the SGR formula and reforming the Medicare physician payment system.
Email your members of Congress today, or call them via the AMA’s grassroots hotline at (800) 833-6354.
