AMA to Congress: Dump Medicare SGR as part of reform
The American Medical Association (AMA) and 112 state and medical specialty societies have urged the Obama Administration and Congress to repeal the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and permanently reform the Medicare physician payment system as part of any agreement on authorizing an increase in the debt ceiling.
In a June 27 letter to the president, vice president and congressional leaders, the organizations stated that any proposal to confront the fiscal challenges facing the Medicare program must address the funding deficit caused by the repeated failure to replace the SGR.
“Though this deficit has been kept ‘off the books’ through budgetary gimmickry, it currently represents $300 billion in unaccounted-for Medicare spending and poses a serious threat to the continued access to physicians and other providers for Medicare beneficiaries,” the groups wrote.
Payments were cut by 5 percent in 2002. Since then, Congress has intervened on 12 occasions to prevent additional cuts from being imposed. Five separate bills were passed to stop a 22 percent cut in 2010 alone, according to the letter.
“The current formula calls for cuts of 29.5 percent on Jan. 1, 2012, for physician services to begin to close this massive gap in funding. There is unanimous agreement that cuts of this magnitude would result in serious disruptions for the nation’s elderly and disabled populations and cannot be allowed to occur,” the letter stated.
Passing another short-term fix will drive up the cost of a long-term solution, the letter noted. “If Congress continues to follow the past practice of employing budget gimmicks to push cuts into the future, the cost will exceed $500 billion in only a few short years."
Many of the organizations that signed the letter "have put forth concrete options for replacing the Medicare physician payment system, promoting quality and increasing efficiencies in the Medicare program. However, none of these are possible under the Sustainable Growth Rate," they concluded. "We stand ready to work with you to achieve these goals."
In a June 27 letter to the president, vice president and congressional leaders, the organizations stated that any proposal to confront the fiscal challenges facing the Medicare program must address the funding deficit caused by the repeated failure to replace the SGR.
“Though this deficit has been kept ‘off the books’ through budgetary gimmickry, it currently represents $300 billion in unaccounted-for Medicare spending and poses a serious threat to the continued access to physicians and other providers for Medicare beneficiaries,” the groups wrote.
Payments were cut by 5 percent in 2002. Since then, Congress has intervened on 12 occasions to prevent additional cuts from being imposed. Five separate bills were passed to stop a 22 percent cut in 2010 alone, according to the letter.
“The current formula calls for cuts of 29.5 percent on Jan. 1, 2012, for physician services to begin to close this massive gap in funding. There is unanimous agreement that cuts of this magnitude would result in serious disruptions for the nation’s elderly and disabled populations and cannot be allowed to occur,” the letter stated.
Passing another short-term fix will drive up the cost of a long-term solution, the letter noted. “If Congress continues to follow the past practice of employing budget gimmicks to push cuts into the future, the cost will exceed $500 billion in only a few short years."
Many of the organizations that signed the letter "have put forth concrete options for replacing the Medicare physician payment system, promoting quality and increasing efficiencies in the Medicare program. However, none of these are possible under the Sustainable Growth Rate," they concluded. "We stand ready to work with you to achieve these goals."