Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Updating Medicare's physician fees: the sustainable growth rate methodology.

Issue Brief 2006 November 11
Medicare's method to annually update the fees it pays physicians has been under fire for some time--specifically, since the method determined that physician fees should be reduced rather than increased. The update method, called the sustainable growth rate (SGR), was implemented to control the growth in Medicare physician spending. Yet Congress, in response to physician concerns about beneficiary access to care, has acted to avert physician fee cuts since 2003. Although this signals dissatisfaction with the SGR methodology, there is yet to be a widely accepted physician fee update proposal that balances federal budgetary realities with the need to ensure beneficiary access. And the cost of changing the update method continues to mount, adding to the difficulties of developing a solution that meets the needs of all stakeholders. This issue brief describes the SGR methodology, the reasons why projected physician fee updates are negative, and some options that have been proposed to remedy the current situation. This issue brief is the second of two related papers on physician spending and Medicare's sustainable growth rate methodology. The companion paper was published on October 9, 2006 (see Issue Brief 815, available at www.nhpf.org/pdfs_ib/IB815_PhysicianSpending_10-09-06.pdf).

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app