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Wed, Oct 14 2009 4:34 PM EST
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erif;">MGMA’s legislative agenda is as long as any health care interest group’s, but its members may be facing one of the most threatening issues of any group short of the American Medical Association.
Legislation a few years ago that was designed to balance the federal budget also mandated reductions in Medicare reimbursement to physicians. Because doctors make up a powerful lobby on Capitol Hill, those cuts have been postponed year after year. Now, unless something is cobbled together again this year, physicians face a 21.5 percent cut in reimbursement next year.
While it’s unlikely docs will take such a large hit—and their medical group practices along with them—what’s uncertain is how the issue will be addressed this year, and what impact health care reform legislation may have. Legislation approved yesterday by the Senate Finance Committee would provide a one-year fix in the form of a 0.5 percent increase for 2010. But that would leave even steeper cuts to be dealt with in 2011.
House legislation would repeal the sustainable growth rate formula and link it to other indexes in future years. MGMA estimates that if that were to pass, it could free up $228 billion over 10 years—money it hopes could go toward restoring proposed reimbursement cuts.
Also, both houses of Congress are
tinkering with pay formulas to reward general surgeons or to penalize imaging—a target lawmakers think is rife with overspending. And legislation is on the table to reward doctors for quality reporting initiatives (House) or provide some rewards for reporting and some stiff penalties for non-reporters (Senate).
That penalty option has lobbyists worried. “It may be an indication of what may be coming in other reporting initiatives,” noted Robert Bennett, MGMA government affairs representative.
Rick Haugh is a contributing writer with H&HN blogging live from MGMA 2009 Conference.
