SGR-updateWith a flurry of editorials and intense lobbying efforts in Washington, DC, hope springs eternal for repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) this year. The latest “patch,” enacted last year to forestall the deep reductions in Medicare reimbursements, will expire on March 30, giving Congress just a few more weeks to repeal the SGR once and for all this year.

Over 750 medical societies, including the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) signed on this week to a letter to Speaker John Boehner, urging the repeal. Read that letter here.
Last year, Congress came the closest it ever had to a repeal, with bipartisan, bicameral support. The hope is that the momentum created with that legislation will carry the repeal over the finish line this Congress.
A major concern has been the cost of repealing the SGR, but for many years Congress always stopped the SGR cuts and therefore, the SGR never took effect.  SGR savings to the federal government are therefore non-existent and repealing the SGR portion would cost nothing. Of course, Congress should pay for the new payment system and the new bonus payments contained in the proposed legislation, but they don’t need to pay for the SGR repeal itself.
Read more about the bill and what lawmakers like North Carolina US Representative Renee Elmers are saying and feel free to add your voice to those urging the legislators in Washington, DC to repeal.
Bouncing the “Doc Fix,” The Wall Street Journal, 3-16-15
Medicare: Time for Congress to Repeal and Replace the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula, FoxNews, 3-16-15