A vote in the U.S. House of Representatives Friday underscores the need for both political parties and chambers of Congress to work together if lawmakers are to push repeal of Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment formula across the finish line.
The House vote of 238-181, largely along party lines, passed a version of a previously bipartisan, bicameral bill that was amended to offset the costs of repeal with a five-year delay of the individual mandate for health insurance coverage required under the Affordable Care Act. The president announced ahead of the vote that he would veto any such measure.
“While the House has not been able to bridge this partisan divide to date, it is time to move forward,” AMA President Ardis Dee Hoven, MD, said in a statement following the vote. “We thank all members who spoke on the floor in support of a return to bipartisan negotiations and encourage the United States Senate to proceed in a timely and bipartisan manner to advance legislation in that body.”
The AMA on Thursday sent a letter to the House, urging them to avoid making SGR repeal “a victim of partisan approaches to resolve budgetary issues.”
Meanwhile, the March 31 deadline is quickly approaching. At that time, the current payment patch will expire, and a 24 percent cut to physician payments is set to kick in. Only a handful of legislative days remain because Congress is on recess until March 24.
“Just last month, both parties worked in a bicameral process to develop good-faith consensus and were historically close to repealing the dysfunctional payment system and improving health care for America’s senior citizens,” Dr. Hoven said. “It would be a shame for lawmakers to have done all of that hard work only to have it overcome by partisan politics over budgetary issues.”
Thanks to physician advocacy, many important milestones were reached in the past year, including:
- A bipartisan majority in Congress—141 Republicans and 118 Democrats—signed a letter to their leadership urging full SGR repeal.
- Committees from both chambers of Congress worked together to create a legislative package that repeals the SGR formula and offers considerable improvements over current law.
- The three committees of jurisdiction completed successful bipartisan mark-up of the legislation, which then was sent to the full Congress.
- 118 members of the House co-sponsored the original repeal bill.
While lawmakers won’t be in Washington, D.C., to work on legislation next week, they will be in their home states and districts, listening intently to what their constituents have to say. Physicians can seize this opportunity to tell their members of Congress that settling for another payment patch in favor of partisan maneuvers is unacceptable. Congress must work together to repeal the SGR once and for all.
You can take action in three ways:
- Call your members of Congress via the AMA’s grassroots hotline, (800) 833-6354. Your call will be directed to their district offices during the recess.
- Email them via the Fix Medicare Now campaign.
- Voice your concerns at a town hall meeting or other public event. Email the AMA to learn more.
“The AMA will continue to work with congressional leaders to get us to the finish line in enacting a solution based on a framework that both chambers and the president can accept,” Dr. Hoven said. “Continuing the cycle of kicking the can down the road through temporary patches in the months ahead simply wastes more taxpayer money to preserve a bad policy of Congress’ own making.”
