The Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED), along with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and more than 100 other physician organizations, sent
a letter to Pres. Obama urging him to repeal the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and permanently reform the Medicare physician payment system.
The current formula calls for a 27.4 percent cut on Jan. 1, 2012, unless Congress intervenes. Because
Medicare costs are lower than anticipated, this is less than the 29.5
percent cut estimated earlier this year.
The letter reiterated that cuts of this magnitude would result in serious disruptions in care for the nation’s elderly and disabled populations and cannot be allowed.
In addition, the letter also opposed passing another short-term fix, as has been done in the past. Payments were cut by 5 percent in 2002. Since that time, Congress has intervened 12 times to prevent additional cuts. Five separate bills were passed in 2010 alone to stop a 22 percent cut.
“Many of our organizations have put forth concrete options for replacing the Medicare physician payment system, promoting quality, and increasing efficiencies in the Medicare program,” concluded the letter. “However, none of these are possible under the SGR. We stand ready to work with you to achieve these goals.”
In response to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s request for suggestions to reform Medicare’s physician payment system, the American Medical Association (AMA) also outlined several of its recommendations in a
letter it sent to the committee in April 2011.
The letter from the AMA contained a framework developed by its SGR Task Force, which included the immediate repeal of Medicare’s SGR formula, a five-year period of statutorily set payment updates, and the transition to a variety of new payment models designed to improve patient care.