Burgess notes progress in reforming SGR

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) said on Thursday that progress has been made on repealing the Sustainable Growth Rate formula used to reimburse physicians who provide treatment to Medicare recipients.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on Thursday that explored current SGR policy and how its reform will impact related human services and programs.

“The reason we are here today is because of the real progress that has been made on the repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate formula, which has been a problem for a lot of us for a long time,” Burgess, a subcommittee member and physician, said. “The cake is literally in the oven baking and today we’re going to talk about what else may go into that before the process is completed.”

The subcommittee approved Burgess’s bipartisan Medicare Patient Access and Quality Improvement Act in July. The measure would repeal the SGR and replace it with a more stable payment structure. The bill would also increase transparency and collaboration requirements in an effort to get more input from the medical community.

Legislators explored on Thursday how SGR reform would impact programs that have traditionally been authorized along with it; such programs include Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“This is a time for us to be very prudent, even skeptical, given the enormous costs of these policies, and do our job on behalf of the taxpayers to ensure every dollar spent is reviewed for efficacy,” Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) said.