Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

House GOP releases revised proposal for replacing SGR

Modern Healthcare (Complimentary online subscription required): House Republican leaders released a revised proposal to replace Medicare's sustainable growth-rate physician payment formula. The proposed system would include specialty-specific performance measures, payment rates partly based on patient experience, and development of an appeals process to contest or reconsider a provider's quality score.

Chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees along with their respective health subcommittees issued the revised proposal on April 3 with a letter to the “provider community” (PDF) requesting comments on the new draft by April 15. It follows up on the first version, released Feb. 7, which outlined a plan to replace the SGR formula with a system featuring predictable payment rates and rewards for delivering high quality and efficient care.

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