“Ouch, quit it!” March 24, 2010

On March 2, the U.S. Senate approved a House-passed bill, H.R. 4691, that provides a 30-day extension for the Medicare physician payment rate. This bill temporarily reversed a 21.2 percent payment reduction that took effect based on the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula on March 1. Year-to-date, this was the second extension granted by Congress (the first extension was tucked into a defense appropriations bill). 

Congress is still discussing the next steps that will be taken to address the pending reduction. The proposals that are being considered would implement yet another short-term patch to the SGR formula including postponement of the cut for 90 days, seven months, or through the end of the year.

It is often said that military forces are trained to fight the last war, not the next one.  Unfortunately, over the past few years it appears the medical community has had to continually prepare for the next war. Given the recent proposed pace of healthcare overhaul, we can no longer afford to be constrained by the past, incremental short-term fixes. (more…)