Heck resurrects effort to fix Medicare reimbursement

WASHINGTON - An effort to change the way the government reimburses doctors for treating Medicare patients was revived Wednesday in Congress.

Reps. Joe Heck, R-Nev., and Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., resubmitted a bill to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate formula, a reimbursement system Congress has bypassed in recent years because it has recommended deep cuts in physician payments.

Similar to a bill promoted in the last Congress, the new one sets a doctor payment schedule for four years while Medicare tests alternatives based on medical specialties, regions of the country and whether doctors practice on their own or in groups.

While the legislation did not pass last year, Heck and Schwartz claimed they made incremental progress because their concept is being evaluated by the House Ways and Means Committee.

"There's no single greater threat to the sustainability of Medicare than the flawed (reimbursement) formula," Heck said at a news conference, adding it's a reason that doctors are retiring, choosing not to go into general practice, or declining to take Medicare patients.

As Congress looks to reform Medicare, "before we start talking about cutting benefits we really need to look at how we are going to control costs through a better reimbursement formula," Heck said.