MedPAC Votes on SGR Repeal
October 7, 2011 – On October 6, 2011, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) officially endorsed a plan to repeal the SGR (sustainable growth rate) payment formula. Despite outcries from the physician community, MedPac submitted their original proposal to pay for the repeal of the SGR by freezing the reimbursement rate for primary care physicians for 10 years and cutting rates for specialists by 5.9 percent for 3 straight years, followed by zero growth during the next 7 years.
As we reported in our Special Edition of the Washington News last week, 43 physician groups responded to MedPAC’s original proposal, made public in September, with a letter stating the proposed cuts would put physicians further in the hole as practice costs continue to rise and would make it difficult to preserve patients’ access to care. MedPAC rejected their arguments and will forward their proposal to the “super committee” which is tasked with recommending $1.5 trillion in savings that Congress must enact by December 23.
Organized medicine is lobbying the “super committee” to repeal the SGR formula, but not pay for it via MedPAC’s proposal. Several medical organizations have previously submitted proposals offering suggestions on how to repeal the SGR without making drastic cuts to physician reimbursement in order to pay for it.
If Congress does not act on the MedPAC plan or come up with an alternative plan before their deadline, the 29.5 percent across-the-board cut in Medicare payments will go into effect January 1, 2012.
