The Congressional bills to permanently remove the problematic Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula for calculating Medicare physician payments also contains provisions that impact more than just physician pay. To avoid an estimated 24 percent mandatory SGR cut to Medicare physician payments, Congress must pass H.R. 4015 /S. 2000 before March 1, when the temporary SGR fix passed in December of last year expires. Legislators leave Thursday for a 12-day-long recess, leaving only four working days to get the bill passed before March 1 and so far, there is no provision for how to pay for the bill — a cost estimated by the independent Congressional Budget Office as at least $115 billion over the next decade, more if payment increases for physicians who participate in MIPS and other alternative payment methodologies are figured in.
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