Bicameral effort to end SGR coming soon
Multiple media reports indicate that the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee have reached a tentative deal surrounding the full repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), the problematic Medicare payment formula that has been in place for years. Media reports indicate that the proposal would move physicians, and other practitioners paid under the physician fee schedule, away from a fee for service model and towards "value based" payment methodologies. The proposal would also freeze payments under the physician fee schedule for ten years. While NRHA is supportive of the full repeal of the SGR, early drafts of the proposal do not include important rural Medicare extenders that have long been included in legislation that delayed SGR updates. Furthermore, the proposal does not outline offsets, commonly known as "pay-fors," that could prove harmful to rural providers. NRHA will continue to analyze the proposal and fight to ensure that all rural-relevant programs are protected and extended as part of the SGR package.