ACS Applauds U.S. House Efforts to Fix Broken Medicare Formula

Newswise — CHICAGO (March 20, 2015): The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is lending its support to legislation introduced this week in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 1470, the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015). ACS is commending lawmakers for working together to develop a bill that implements meaningful reforms to the Medicare program. These reforms include permanent repeal of the broken sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) used to calculate Medicare physician reimbursement and transition to a system based on value and quality of care.
“Leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have demonstrated an exceptional spirit of bipartisan cooperation to advance thoughtfully constructed, ACS-supported legislation that will provide much needed stability to the Medicare program,” said David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, executive director of the American College of Surgeons. “The College applauds the priority lawmakers are placing on passing the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015. Surgeons will continue to educate their representatives and senators and urge them to pass this bill, which protects Medicare beneficiaries and the viability of surgical practices.”
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About the American College of SurgeonsThe American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 80,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit www.facs.org.