SGR Repeal Gaining Momentum; 3/5 National Call to Action February 25, 2014 Advocacy, AMA, Medicare, Payment, Politics and Medicine grassroots advocacy, Medicare sustainable growth rate, repeal SGR, SGR 0 Congress is closer than ever before to enacting legislation that would permanently repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014 (H.R. 4015/S. 2000), introduced in both chambers of Congress, offers a fiscally prudent opportunity for lawmakers to repeal the SGR formula and put Medicare on the path toward a stable, 21st-century program that can meet the growing health care needs of the nation’s seniors. The bill provides a 0.5% automatic payment update every year for five years during the transition to new payment models through which physicians can earn bonuses of up to 9%. The new system will allow physicians to select from two payment tracks—a fee-for-service track and an alternative payment model track. Most important, the bill eliminates the flawed Medicare SGR once and for all. Congress has very few days to establish a pathway and enact this legislation before the scheduled 2014 Medicare physician payment cut of 24% takes effect on April 1. Amplifying the physician voice on this issue now is critical. We are asking San Francisco physicians to contact your members of Congress today to urge them to act on this vitally important legislation and repeal the SGR. How to contact members of Congress By Phone: Use the AMA Grassroots Hotline, (888) 434-6200, to be connected with your members of Congress. You will be asked to enter your zip code and select your representative. By Email: Email your federal legislators via www.FixMedicareNow.org. Template letters are available. Key Messages The sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula is widely acknowledged to be a policy failure. Congress has been forced to intervene 16 times since 2003 to prevent steep payment cuts and preserve seniors’ access to care. Now a bipartisan, bicameral process involving three Congressional committees has produced agreement on a new policy framework that repeals the SGR and creates a pathway to a higher-performing Medicare program. Repealing the SGR is the fiscally responsible choice. More money has been spent on short-term payment patches that continue supporting this failed policy than it would cost to pass the legislation before Congress today. It is time to establish new payment methods that will support the health care delivery systems that Medicare patients and American taxpayers deserve. Congress must seize this opportunity and act before March 31, when the SGR calls for a 24% across-the-board cut in Medicare physician payments. Tell Congress it is time to pass H.R. 4015/ S. 2000. Comments are closed.
