January 5, 2012
Congressional leaders have announced that they have accepted a two-month fix to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula used to calculate Medicare physician payments. Without this legislation, physicians would have faced a 27 percent drop in Medicare reimbursement payments.
Congress passed the two-month Medicare physician payment patch as part of a larger tax bill that also extends other provisions for two months, including a federal payroll tax holiday and unemployment compensation.
When Congress returns in January, both the House and the Senate will appoint conferees to discuss a longer-term extension of the SGR formula as well as other issues. Current conferees that have been named are:
Senate Democrats
Senate Republicans
House Democrats
House Republicans