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On July 30, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) expressed support for key provisions of H.R. 2810, the Medicare Patient Access and Quality Improvement Act of 2013, in a formal letter to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce. The legislation would repeal and replace the flawed Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula.
ASA commended the Committee for provisions "that repeal the current SGR formula and put in place a period of relative stability." Highlighting ASA's work on the Perioperative Surgical Home innovative model of coordinated care, ASA commended the Committee for creating a framework for stakeholders like the ASA to develop and advance alternative payment models such as the Perioperative Surgical Home. ASA also offered strong support for "the meaningful opportunity for stakeholder feedback in the development of quality measures and clinical improvement activities."
While supportive of the overall repeal effort, the letter expressed concerns regarding proposed changes that would remove savings from the current pool of physician payment resources through the identification of misvalued services. ASA strongly urged the Committee to amend this provision of the legislation. ASA noted that the "availability of payment resources is particularly important for addressing undervalued payment levels such as those found in anesthesia."
ASA will continue to closely monitor this legislation.
Read the ASA letter of support.
Review the draft legislation.
Review the Committee reform summary.
Review past ASA's responses about the proposal:
July
June
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