MEDICARE NEWS

05/23/2012     

Former Medicare Chiefs Say SGR Must Be Eliminated

Four former Medicare administrators told a panel of senators that the sustainable growth rate budget mechanism and fee-for-service payment system must be replaced. Unfortunately, however, there is no replacement plan for the current system, which is scheduled to cut Medicare rates by more than 30% in 2013 if Congress doesn’t prevent it. “There is no alternative ready for prime time right now,” said Gail Wilensky, PhD, who led the Medicare agency during the George H.W. Bush administration.

The Senate Finance Committee heard testimony from past leaders of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and its predecessor agency, the Health Care Financing Administration, on May 10. Senators questioned the witnesses on how the SGR and fee-for-service came about and how Congress should act to move past a broken system.

Source: Charles Fiegl, AMNews [5/21/12]