SFMS/CMA Urges Congress to Stop $11 billion in Medicare Sequestration Cuts September 17, 2012 Advocacy, AMA, CMA, Medicare, Payment Medicare sequestration cuts, Medicare payment reduction, SFMS/CMA advocacy 0 Hospitals and other providers will see Medicare payment reductions totaling $11.1 billion next year, due to the Budget Control Act of 2011, unless Congress passes new measures to prevent the cuts, according to a report from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. This comes just days after the SFMS/CMA, American Medical Association, and 99 other state and specialty societies submitted a letter to Congress urging the passage of legislation nullifying the 2 percent cut payments called for under the sequestration act. The 2 percent Medicare “sequestration” cuts are part of the $1.2 trillion in cuts required by the Sequestration Transparency Act, part of a deal worked out to end last year’s debt-ceiling crisis. Under the act, across-the-board cuts will be triggered if Congress fails to come to an agreement on how to reduce the federal deficit. These cuts would come on top of the 27 percent Medicare physician payment cuts triggered by the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The letter to Congress argues that “the combination of a sequestration cut and looming Medicare sustainable growth rate payment cut would not only impede improvements to our health care system, it could lead to serious access to care issues for Medicare patients as well as employment reductions in medical practices, we strongly urge Congress to work diligently during the fall to reach a bipartisan agreement to pass legislation nullifying the Medicare physician payment cuts.” SFMS/CMA and the other cosigners also expressed a commitment to work with Congress on the shared goal of delivery and payment reform in the Medicare program. “To reach this goal, adequate and stable investments are necessary so that physicians can modernize their practices to support the coordinated care that will improve health and prevent costly complications and enable the participation in new payment and delivery models,” the letter said. The sequestration cuts will take effect on January 2, 2013, if Congress fails to either reach a deficit reduction agreement or takes additional legislative action to stop the cuts. Congressional Republicans remain deadlocked with the Obama Administration over sharp differences in their preferred approaches to reduce future deficits. Comments are closed.
