WASHINGTON – The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission voiced its disappointment with Congress’ failure to find a permanent fix for Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) at its Jan. 12 meeting.
MedPAC Chairman Glenn Hackbarth said the opportunity to pay for an SGR solution is fading. "Repeal of SGR will only get more expensive." He added that the likelihood that Congress would forgive any debt incurred by the SGR also is fading, as are the Medicare savings that could fund the repeal.
"To say that we can’t repeal SGR without it being offset and then take Medicare savings for other purposes leaves this destabilizing element at the heart of the Medicare program," Mr. Hackbarth said.
At its October meeting, the commission voted to submit its recommendations to Congress for using Medicare savings to fund an SGR replacement. Key among the recommendations are:
• Repealing the SGR.
• Freezing payments to primary care physicians for 10 years.
• Cutting reimbursements to specialist physicians by 17% over 3 years, followed by a 7-year freeze.
Dr. Ron Castellanos, MedPAC commissioner and a Florida urologist, called on MedPAC to increase their pressure on Congress to find a permanent solution.
"I don’t know how to say more passionately that there needs to be a message from MedPAC that this is just totally unacceptable," Dr. Castellanos said. He added that if the 27.4% pay cut goes through, it could force Congress to come up with a permanent fix.
"I don’t like the idea of letting the cut go through but certainly if that happens I think we could get an answer," Mr. Castellanos said.
The commission’s next meeting is March 8.