Long-awaited and hard-fought legislation to permanently repeal the fatally flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula now is before both chambers of Congress with the introduction of the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014 (H.R. 4015/ S. 2000).

This legislation would provide physicians with positive annual payment updates of 0.5 percent for five years. It also includes important medical liability protections and significant resources and tools to help physicians transition to new payment and delivery models.

Congress now is closer than ever before to enacting fiscally prudent legislation that would permanently repeal the SGR formula. Amplifying the physician voice on this issue now is critical.

You can take action by accessing the AMA’s Action Alert center and composing an email to your representatives urging them to repeal the SGR. Take action by clicking here or calling your legislators via the AMA’s Physicians Grassroots Network hotline at (800) 833-6354. 

The AMA has suggested the following key points to stress with your representative and senators:

• For at least 12 years, Congress has recognized the imperative of reforming the Medicare physician payment system. Now that a bipartisan, bicameral policy has been developed, it’s time to stop thinking about the problem and seize the opportunity to solve it.
• Congress must act as soon as possible and vote in support of permanently repealing the flawed Medicare SGR formula.
• Congress must avoid continuing the fiscally irresponsible cycle of short-term patches that contribute to the Medicare program’s instability and do nothing to solve the underlying problem.

You may also visit FixMedicareNow.org for the latest information and resources on the AMA’s campaign to repeal the flawed Medicare SGR formula and achieve reform that will transform Medicare into an effective, 21st-century model of care.

The NCMS joined 110 other organizations in the AMA’s letter to Congressional leaders urging repeal of the SGR. Read that letter here. We also joined the State Coalition of Medical Societies, representing nine societies, in their sign-on letter to the congressional leadership. Read that letter here. The State Coalition letter was mentioned in an article in Modern Healthcare about the efforts of organized medicine to urge repeal of the SGR formula. Read that article here.