ACS lends support to legislation that may provide much needed stability to Medicare program

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."