SGR Fix Bills Include Proposed Health IT Changes

A bipartisan coalition in the House and Senate introduced identical bills that repeal Medicare's notorious formula for setting physician pay and, in the process, attempts to avert a 21% rate reduction scheduled for April 1. There is likely to be a short-term patch needed to complete the negotiation before the deadline, but reports are that votes will be scheduled next week.

The legislation also would raise physician pay by 0.5% in the second half of 2015 and then each year from 2016 through 2019 while shifting Medicare reimbursement from fee-for-service to pay- for-performance. Medicare's incentive programs for electronic health records, quality reporting, and the so-called value-based modifier would be merged to reduce their administrative burden on physician practices.

See more from Medicity's Brian Ahier: http://bit.ly/1MUit8z