WASHINGTON, DC - The Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), today held a hearing examining the implementation of Medicare payment reforms. The hearing focused on the repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, which was a flawed payment system for doctors that required Congress to repeatedly implement temporary fixes for over a decade. The bipartisan and bicameral agreement to repeal and replace the SGR was coupled with other health related provisions and overwhelmingly passed both chambers last year. The bill was ultimately signed into law on April 16, 2015.
Today, subcommittee members had the opportunity to check-in with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about how the process is going, and to discuss the work the agency is doing to encourage value based payments that would qualify as an eligible alternative model.
Chairman Pitts highlighted the “historic" legislation in his opening remarks, saying, “We worked over many years to address the problems associated with the SGR and impending yearly payment cuts to doctors that inevitably were avoided thanks to short-term, temporary patches - 17 in all."
Dr. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) spoke to the reforms that were made by repealing the SGR formula, instead of passing more annual “doc fix" bills. “I do believe it was in the best interest of continuing to be able to provide Medicare services. … This was a bill aimed at maintaining access for Medicare patients to their physicians." Dr. Burgess also noted that the subcommittee looks forward to learning more about how CMS will make the new payment process better for everyone involved.
Additional information on today’s hearing, including a background memo, witness testimony and an archived video can be found on our website here. Related Items
* Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015: Examining Implementation of Medicare Payment Reforms
