WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Mark Walker (NC-06) today supported House passage of H.R. 2, The Medicare Access and CHIP Authorization, voting in favor of permanently repealing the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), a maligned remnant of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

“After numerous patches and lapses, we are finally giving doctors the certainty they need to focus on patients and preserving Medicare’s acceptance for millions of seniors,” said Walker.  “This bill is far from perfect, and I find it difficult to fathom that we cannot find $141 billion to pay for this bill when Medicare estimates exceed $8 trillion over the next 10 years.  Nonetheless, passing a SGR repeal is good government – plain and simple.”

“If SGR cuts suddenly went into effect, resulting in an abrupt 21% reduction in Medicare reimbursements, millions of seniors would be left with ‘paper coverage.’ They would have a Medicare insurance card but no place would accept it – equating it to Monopoly money,” continued Walker. “Doctors and hospitals would flee the Medicare system because payments would dive even further below costs and result in massive losses.”

John D. McConnell, MD and CEO of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center added, “Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center strongly supports the full and permanent repeal of Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate formula.  Since its inception in 1997, Congress has had to act 17 times to prevent cuts to Medicare physician payments based on this flawed formula from occurring.  H.R. 2, The Medicare Access and CHIP Authorization, bill fixes this problem.  It repeals and replaces the formula with a stable payment system for physicians while promoting high quality care for Medicare beneficiaries.”

The Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula is a method for calculating payments to Medicare doctors that was first as a way to curb Medicare spending.  However, since 2002, the SGR formula would require drastic cuts to physicians and endanger Medicare access for seniors. For over a decade, Congress has acted 17 times to override such cuts with short term patches, commonly referred to as the ‘doc fixes.’ It is estimated that $170 billion has been spent on these short term delays. H.R. 2 permanently repeals the SGR formula and secures access to Medicare for seniors. Additionally, H.R. 2 extends the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years.

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