Virginia medical societies urge Sens. Warner and Webb to support Medicare SGR fix
This week, MSV issued the following letter to Sens. Warner and Webb encouraging them to support legislation that would provide for a permanent fix for the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR). This effort, which was led by MSV, was endorsed by 28 medical organizations in Virginia including local and specialty societies and health systems.
February 2, 2010
Dear Sens. Warner and Webb:
The undersigned medical societies in the Commonwealth of Virginia are writing to stress the urgency of passing legislation to permanently repeal the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula to avoid the 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2010, and to provide our patients with the security and stability they deserve.
While we know you have previously expressed reservations about the cost of repealing the SGR formula, we know you are committed to a long-term, cost-effective solution for Medicare physician payments. Without Congressional action in the very near term, the costs of correcting the flawed SGR formula will continue to grow exponentially and drive the deficit upwards.
Seven times in the last seven years, Congress has been compelled to pass legislation to override the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula that has been producing annual cuts in payments to physicians under Medicare and TRICARE. Because these temporary “fixes” were never truly paid for, past Congressional interventions to address pending cuts have only served to make future payment cuts steeper and increased the cost of permanently repealing a payment formula that is universally regarded as fatally flawed. In March 2005, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the cost of a ten-year Medicare physician payment freeze at less than $50 billion dollars; in May 2009, the estimated cost of a pay freeze had increased more than five-fold.
Further, the short-term fixes enacted in the past have produced payment rates lagging far behind the rising costs of providing care. To maintain the financial viability of their practices, many of the nearly 19,000 physicians caring for patients in Virginia may find that they must limit access to care for over a million Medicare beneficiaries and 759,000 TRICARE patients, just to keep their offices open.
Short-term fixes are neither responsible budget policy nor are they in keeping with our nation’s obligations to provide access, choice, and high-quality care to Medicare and TRICARE patients. It is time for the Senate to choose the responsible course and vote for permanently replacing the SGR with a physician payment formula that preserves access to care for our state’s seniors, disabled, and military families.
Respectfully,
The Medical Society of Virginia
Arlington County Medical School
Chesapeake Medical Society
Medical Society of Northern Virginia
Norfolk Academy of Medicine
Portsmouth Academy of Medicine
Prince William County Medical Society
Richmond Academy of Medicine
Roanoke Valley Academy of Medicine
Southwestern Virginia Medical Society
Tazewell County Medical Society
Virginia Beach Medical Society
Williamsburg-James City County Medical Society
Psychiatric Society of Virginia
Virginia Academy of Family Physicians
Virginia Association of Hematologists and Oncologists
Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychology
Virginia Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
Virginia Chapter, American College of Cardiology
Virginia Chapter, American College of Physicians
Virginia Chapter, American College of Radiology
Virginia Chapter, American College of Surgeons
Virginia College of Emergency Physicians
Virginia Dermatological Society
Virginia Neurological Society
Virginia Orthopaedic Society
Virginia Society of Anesthesiologists
Virginia Society of Eye Physicians & Surgeons
Virginia Society of Otolaryngology
Virginia Commonwealth University Health System