Despite Praise, SGR Repeal Will Require Cuts or Payment Reforms to Move Forward

With hospitals vehemently opposed to more Medicare cuts to fund the bipartisan legislation unveiled Thursday that would permanently end the annual charade around physician pay cuts, Congress may have to enact some form of payment or tax reform if it expects to get the job done this year.

Physician groups already are hailing the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act, which would eliminate Medicare's sustainable growth-rate formula, which on March 31 mandates an automatic 24% across-the-board cut in physician pay. But the big question on the table is how to pay for its $126 billion price tag.

“Everyone wants to go home and say 'We fixed this thing,'” said healthcare consultant and policy analyst Paul Keckley

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Source: Modern Healthcare