On March 2, 2010, the U.S. Senate voted to extend 2009 Medicare physician payment rates through the end of March. In light of this, the 21.2 percent reduction that took effect on March 1 has been postponed until April 1.
Congress is still discussing the next steps that will be taken to address the pending reduction. The proposals that are being considered would implement another short-term patch to the SGR formula, including the postponement of the cut for 90 days, seven months, or through the end of the year.
These temporary "fixes" to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) only further bankrupts the Medicare system. Short term fixes only postpone and increase the amount of physician pay cuts and reduce patients’ access to their physicians. This failure comes after years of temporary fixes to the SGR, which only further bankrupts the Medicare system. Short-term fixes only postpone and increase the amount of physician pay cuts and reduce patients’ access to their physicians.
The Heart Rhythm Society does not support another short-term fix that fails to address the underlying problem of the SGR payment formula. The Society will continue its efforts to ensure that a permanent solution to the SGR is enacted. Your call is necessary to urge Congress to repeal this flawed payment system and to protect physicians and Medicare beneficiaries immediately.
Protect Medicare patients’ access to specialty care! Contact the DC office of your Senator or Representative using the Alliance of Specialty Medicine's toll-free Grassroots Hotline at 1 (866) 899-4088. When asked for your 4-digit specialty code, enter 6969.
When you speak to your Members of Congress, you may want to tell them:
“As a physician and constituent, I am disappointed that Congress continues to threaten Medicare beneficiaries’ access to their physicians by failing to permanently prevent the 21.2 percent Medicare physician payment reduction that is scheduled to take effect on April 1 and all future reductions pending due to the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate Formula. Congress had over one year to fix this flawed system, but failed to do so. Congress must step up now and repeal Medicare’s dysfunctional payment system once and for all.”
