Congressional leaders today reached an agreement to stop the 5 percent Medicare sustainable growth rate cut that is scheduled to take effect January 1. The deal would freeze the Medicare conversion factor for physician reimbursement at 2006 levels for one year and would give a 1.5 percent increase to physicians who participate in the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services’ Physician Voluntary Reporting Program beginning July 1. The Senate is expected to vote on the deal today, and the House will likely vote tomorrow.

The freeze only applies to the 5 percent SGR cut, and would not affect the recently announced changes to the work relative value units (RVUs). The freeze would cost more than $13 billion and would likely be paid for with money from the Medicare Advantage HMO Stabilization Fund.

Although the proposal does not include a fix to Medicare’s geographic practice cost index (GPCI), we have strong assurances from California’s Democratic leaders in Congress that they will help us fix our GPCI problem next year.

“This is another great win for physicians – albeit a short-term gain,” says CMA President Anmol S. Mahal, M.D. “CMA would like to extend a sincere thank-you to all physicians who kept the pressure on Congress. There is no way Congress would have acted without major pressure from the physician community.”

CMA would also like to thank the members of the California Congressional Delegation who helped make this happen.

CMA has also formed a new Medicare Reform Committee to develop a sweeping, proactive, strategic plan to reform the Medicare program, including a long-term overhaul of the physician payment system. CMA leaders believe it is time for CMA to take the national lead to ensure that the Medicare program fulfills its mission to protect access to quality care for the nation’s seniors.

Stay tuned to the Medicare Action Center for more details.

Contact: Elizabeth McNeil, 415/882-3376 or emcneil@cmanet.org.