MSV weighs in on SGR repeal

17 December 2009

The AMA sent a letter to the House and Senate this week, signed by 50 state medical societies, including the Medical Society of Virginia, and 68 national physician organizations, urging Congress to establish a pathway toward permanent repeal of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The letter expressed medicine’s firm opposition to passage of a routine, one- or two-year patch that would stop the imminent 21.2 percent Medicare pay cut scheduled for Jan. 1, 2010, but create even steeper cuts in future years and increase the cost of a permanent SGR repeal.

However, the groups acknowledged that the press of current business may prevent Congress from passing legislation to repeal the SGR prior to the holidays. Out of concern for patient access to care, the groups agreed to support the interim solution of a short, 30-45 day postponement of the 2010 payment cut to provide additional time for Congress to pass a permanent solution to the SGR problem.