House Republicans released a year-end bill, H.R. 1209, the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011,” that includes, among other provisions, a 2-year Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) “patch” or so called “doc fix” intended to prevent a 27 percent Medicare physician payment cut effective January 1, 2012. The two year patch in this bill includes a 1 percent payment increase for all physicians. The package does not repeal the flawed SGR formula.
In mid-December, the U.S. House of Representatives will hold a vote on this bill. If the bill is passed by the House, intense negotiations with the United States Senate are expected because of spending offsets included in the package. The offsets are included to ensure that the package does not increase the budget deficit.
ASA will continue to inform its membership of developments as they occur and to lobby Congress to ensure that this cut does not go into effect.
View the legislation.
View documents provided by House Republicans on the summary and health provisions of the year-end bill.