Greetings from Washington, D.C. Your advocacy team had another busy month. Unlike my prior updates, and in order to keep our focus on health policy, I avoid mentioning anything about Washington investigations into obstruction of justice, collusion, etc. You get enough of that elsewhere. The Healthcare Bill Obamacare repeal and reform efforts are speeding up….
Will There Be an SGR Fix This Year?
Rheumatologists should expect at least one more time-stamped extension to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula before Congress makes any lasting changes to it. At issue is the future of rheumatologists’ Medicare payments, including the federal Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) recommendation from last year to scrap the formula, reduce payments for specialist services by 5.9% for each of three years, and then freeze them for seven more years, and the 27.4% SGR cut that has been repeatedly delayed by extensions.
Rheumatologists React to Looming Medicare Payment Reductions
MedPAC recommends deep cuts to physician payments
Obama and Clinton at the AMA
Then and now: Déjà vu all over again—toujours?
Medicare Switch to ASP Pricing Reduces Part B Spending
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) reported to Congress in January that Medicare’s switch to a payment method known as ASP, or Average Sale Price, has reduced spending on drugs in the Medicare Part B program. This system reflects actual market spending, rather than wholesale prices.