The Senate recently passed pay-as-you-go legislation requiring Congress to offset new spending or tax cuts with corresponding spending cuts or tax increases, and the House passed a similar bill last year and is expected to take up a new version next week, The Hill reported. The Senate bill includes an exemption from pay-as-you-go for the physician payment fix. Specifically, it would allow Congress to spend up to $82 billion for physician payments without having to find offsetting savings or revenue sources. This amount would be enough to lock in fees at their current rates for five years.
The American Medical Association and other physician groups — joined by AARP — have been lobbying for a more expensive overhaul to the Medicare physician payment system, known as the sustainable growth rate formula, or SGR. Passing a permanent fix could cost $200 billion, according to a Feb. 2 report in Politico. Finding such a solution tops the AMA’s healthcare reform agenda.
Read The Hill’s report on physician fee cuts.
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