Another year of SGR? Fix increasingly uncertain as Democrats, Republicans debate payment method

p>Earlier this month, doctors were hopeful that a permanent fix to the flawed sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) underlying the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule was finally on the horizon. After all, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and in both houses agreed on a bill that would increasingly base providers’ reimbursement on certain performance measures or on a provider’s participation in alternative payment models.The momentum created by the bipartisan, bicameral agreement, however, is quickly unraveling as lawmakers debate how to pay for the $138.4 billion measure. On Friday, the House passed the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Moderation Act of 2014 (H.R. 4015), which included an amendment from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) that would delay the financial penalties for people who don’t buy health insurance from 2014 to 2019.