Medical Organizations Call for Repeal of Medicare SGR Formula

http://www.insidearm.com/news/00012890-medical-organizations-call-for-repeal-of-/

The American Medical Association, along with 86 other medical organizations, is recommending that Congress set a date for repealing the Sustainable Growth Rate formula used to calculate Medicare physician payments.

The recommendations state that "if immediate repeal of the SGR is not possible, Congress must establish by law … a date certain" for repeal. One proposal would postpone the repeal until 2016. The groups recommended that in place of the SGR, Congress implement an annual update system based on changes in the costs of delivering physician care. They also recommended "modest" annual physician payment increases until the SGR formula is repealed, CQ HealthBeat reports.