The AANS and CNS applaud the efforts of leaders in the House of Representatives to pass legislation to repeal and replace Medicare’s flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment formula before the 21 percent pay cut goes into effect on April 1, 2015. The “SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015,” reflects many of neurosurgery’s core principles and takes the following important steps to transform the way Medicare pays physicians:
- Repeals the SGR and includes a period of stability in Medicare physician payments;
- Restructures and streamlines physician-led quality improvement that allows the medical specialty societies to determine the most appropriate and clinically relevant quality improvement metrics and strategies for use in future quality initiatives; and
- Adopts flexible criteria that allow physician participation and engagement in delivery and payment models that are meaningful to their practices and patient populations, including preserving a fee-for-service option and recognizing the value of clinical data registries for improving quality.
Neurosurgeons appreciate the tireless efforts by leaders in Congress to develop legislation that fixes the broken Medicare payment system. Furthermore, we are encouraged that the bill establishes a stable mechanism for reimbursing doctors and will help create a delivery system that promotes high-quality, high-value, and better-coordinated care for our patients.
