Statement attributed to:

Robert M. Wah, MD

President, American Medical Association

“The American Medical Association (AMA) applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for overwhelmingly passing a long overdue bill to permanently eliminate the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and put in place important Medicare payment and delivery reforms that will improve the health of the nation.

“While many members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans, helped to achieve to today’s result, Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi deserve special praise for exhibiting leadership and courage in forging this bipartisan package.

“We urge the U.S. Senate to take swift action to approve the policy and send it to the President’s desk before the current SGR payment patch expires on March 31.

“When passed by the Senate, the bill will put an end to the cycle of Congress passing expensive patches to extend a policy that all agree was bad in the first place. The new policy supports innovative new delivery and payment models that will help improve care quality, health outcomes and lower costs. It also assures access to care for children, low-income individuals and families by extending funds for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and community health centers.

“The Senate must vote today to stop a looming 21 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements that will force reductions in access to health care for America’s seniors, military personnel and their families. The time is now to finally lay this destructive issue to rest and act immediately to build a stable and sustainable Medicare program that our nation’s patients and physicians need and deserve.”