On Feb. 15 Congress reached a tentative compromise that would extend the current freeze in the Medicare physician payments for 10 months until Jan. 1 2013, and would stop the estimated 27 percent cuts from taking effect. Thanks to the Advocacy efforts of the ACC and others, the tentative agreement does not use medical imaging payment cuts to offset the costs. The agreement is expected to pass in both the House and Senate later this week.
Since 2002, Congress has had to intervene repeatedly to avert annual Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) Medicare physician payment formula cuts due to the flawed formula and to preserve access to care for patients. Each time Congress has passed a short-term intervention it has only deepened the payment cuts in future years and increased the cost of permanently resolving the problem. Putting another Band-Aid on the problem is no longer a viable solution.
The ACC strongly supports moving the current Medicare physician payment system away from a volume-based system and toward a value-driven system. The College urges Congress to provide stable, positive updates and cover the increase in the cost of providing care.
ACC members can stay tuned to CardioSource and the ACC Advocate for additional details and updates. To receive up-to-date information from the ACC’s Advocacy Twitter account, follow @Cardiology.
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