Congress approves 12-month SGR extension, AAFP calls for permanent fix

posted 12.09.10

Congress has passed a 12-month extension of the Medicare physician payment rate. The U.S. Senate approved the bill late Wednesday, Dec. 8, and the House of Representatives approved the bill Thursday, Dec. 9. The bill—the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010—effectively blocks a 25 percent reduction in Medicare physician pay that was scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1.

The Jan. 1 deadline was set last week when Congress passed a one-month extension, temporarily blocking a 23 percent cut scheduled for Dec. 1. This was the fifth time this year Congress stepped in to delay a Medicare physician pay cut, with the short-term patches ranging from one month to six months.

AAFP hopes the 12-month extension will provide stability for physicians who treat Medicare patients and give lawmakers more time to negotiate a three- to five-year fix for the broken sustainable growth rate, or SGR. According to AAFP’s Connect for Family Medicine blog, the Academy is hopeful an SGR patch would also contain “a positive differential payment for primary care physicians.”

AAFP continues to advocate for a permanent fix to Medicare physician payment, and encourages all members to stay involved in the political process. To find out who your congressional lawmakers are, how to contact them by phone or e-mail, and to access editable e-mail text and a sample letter to the editor on these issues, go to AAFP’s Speak Out.

Resources:

• Download AAFP’s Medicare Action Toolkit
• Go to AAFP’s Speak Out