CBO Releases Physician Payment Options

On Tuesday, June 14, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released to House and Senate leaders a memo outlining the costs of various proposals to resolve the pending Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) problem. If Congress fails to advance a change to the formula, physicians will face a 29.4 percent SGR cut on January 1, 2012. 

The options presented by the CBO range in costs from $22 billion to more than $100 billion. While it is possible that another short-term SGR “patch” could be included in a deficit reduction package, it is most likely that the issue will be handled in the traditional year-end fashion. 

ASA supports full repeal of the SGR with replacement by a mechanism that accurately reflects the costs of providing care. Short of full repeal, ASA supports proposals that 1) provide for appropriate payment updates; 2) do not exacerbate projected future payment cuts and 3) begin to address the magnitude of the projected payment cuts – the “SGR debt.”

Click here to read the CBO memo.