SGR Cuts Averted Until End of February January 6, 2012 Advocacy, CMA, Medicare, News Medicare, SGR, sustainable growth rate 1 On December 22, 2011, the House agreed to extend the budget bill for two months and prevent the 27.4 percent Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) cut to physician reimbursement from going into effect on January 1, 2012. A House-Senate conference committee will begin work in late January on a longer term agreement, including a permanent solution to SGR. California Congressman Henry Waxman (D-LA), the ranking Democrat on the House Energy Commerce (i.e., health) Committee, is one of the conferees. Several days before the House agreed to the Senate’s two-month patch, California Medical Association (CMA) President James T. Hay, MD, sent a letter to Congress voicing the concerns and frustrations of California physicians who have been seeking a solution to the flawed SGR for 10 years. Stating that CMA was “outraged” that there had been no resolution to the long-standing problem before Congress went home for the holidays, the letter said, “The inability of Congress to adopt a long-term plan to replace the formula will cause irreparable harm to physician practices and patients. “For a decade, California physicians and organized medicine have been calling upon Congress to eliminate the flawed Medicare SGR,” the letter said. The inability to find a resolution will have a “devastating impact” on 5 million of California’s seniors and nearly 1 million military families. Patients would now face long delays in care, while physician practices would lack financial stability in an already-difficult economy. CMA will continue to keep the pressure on Congress when they return at the end of January to adopt a longer term solution to the failed Medicare SGR payment system. CMA appreciates all of the physicians who made phone calls, sent letters and met with their members of Congress to help stop the cuts. These efforts helped to convince the House to stop the cuts while the longer term negotiations continue. Comments are closed.
