After months spent examining the best path to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula (SGR) and reform the Medicare payment system, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has released draft legislation. A House panel discussion this week on the proposed language serves as another step forward in the long journey towards permanently fixing the flawed payment system. The Senate Finance Committee is also developing a framework for repealing the SGR. In a letter to the committee, your ACC provided guidance for improving the mechanisms for physician payments and creating a path to payment reform. The letter pointed out that while the it's clear a new system is necessary, the infrastructure to completely revamp physician payment still requires significant development and input from stakeholders. The ACC called for at least three to five years of stable physician payments in order to achieve continuous quality improvement.

Keywords: Physicians, Quality Improvement, Language, Health Expenditures, Medicare, United States

< Back to Listings