House Ways and Means Committee Releases Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate Legislation
October 30, 2009
On Thursday, October 29, the House Ways and Means Committee released the “Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009,” (H.R. 3961), which would repeal the 21.5 percent Medicare payment rate reduction for physician services in 2010 and replace the sustainable growth rate with a new formula.
According to H.R. 3961, the SGR would be replaced with a new formula that:
- Removes items such as drugs and laboratory services not paid directly to practitioners from spending targets
- Allows the volume of most services to grow at the rate of gross domestic product plus one percentage point per year
- Allows the volume of primary and preventive care services to grow at GDP plus two percent per year
- Encourages coordinated, innovative care by allowing accountable care organizations to be responsible for their own growth paths – irrespective of reductions or increases that apply elsewhere in the system.
The House Ways and Means Committee will add the text of the “Statutory PAYGO Act of 2009” to H.R.3961 before sending the bill to the Senate. The "pay as you go" principle of budget discipline requires Congress to pay for any new spending outside of an economic crisis.
Please call your representative and urge a yes vote on H.R. 3961. You can quickly and easily contact your representative by using the AMA Grassroots Hotline at (800) 833-6354. And, you can also send a follow-up
