Physician Payment

SVS Signs Letter supporting Stabenow bill, Save Medicare Act of 2008

SVS signed onto a letter with many other physician groups in support of S.2785, the Save Medicare Act of 2008 sponsored by Senator Stabenow (D-MI).

The bill would extend the 2008 Medicare physician payment increase of .5% from July 1 - December 31, averting a 10.6% decrease for the second half of this year. It also provides a 1.8% increase for 2009.

Large Medicare Reductions in President's FY 2009 Budget

On February 4, President Bush released details of his Fiscal Year 2009 budget, which includes large Medicare reductions - $178 billion over the next five years. Significant for vascular surgeons, it does not include any increases for the physician payment update.

Medicare Physician Payment Update
On Wednesday, December 19, Congress passed a Medicare package before it adjourned for the holidays. The 10% Medicare physician pay cut included in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Final Rule was averted with a .5% increase for the first six months of 2008. The package also extends the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, which provides a 1.5% bonus for reporting quality measures for another six months and does not use additional imaging cuts to pay for the package. President Bush signed this into law on December 29, 2007.

House Passes Children's Health And Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act Before August Recess
The House of Representatives passed the CHAMP Act, H.R. 3162, on August 1 by a vote of 225 to 204. It includes the re-authorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and repeals the Sustainable Growth Rate for determining the yearly Medicare physician payment update. Instead of a 10% cut included in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed 2008 rule, the bill provides a positive update of .5% for 2008 and for 2009. The offsets are cuts to Medicare Advantage (Part C) and an increase in the tobacco tax.

SVS Signs Onto Letter Urging CMS To Adopt Policy Changes
SVS signed onto a

letter organized by AMA, urging CMS to adopt policy changes for the 2008 Medicare payment schedule that will help avert projected 10% payment cuts driven by the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) and lessen the score for Congressional proposals to address the SGR. Medicare Trustees predict cuts of nearly 40% over the next eight years if the SGR formula continues to be utilized by CMS to determine the yearly physician payment update.

Final Rule On Deficit Reduction Act Released November 1, 2006
SVS submitted comments on October 10, 2006 to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed rule on the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005.

Society for Vascular Surgery - 633 N. St. Clair, 24th Floor; Chicago, IL 60611; Phone: 312-334-2300 or 800-258-7188; Fax: 312-334-2320; Email: vascular@vascularsociety.org
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