Senate, House Committees Outline Joint Medicare Payment Plan

On Wednesday, October 30, the Senate Finance and House Ways & Means Committees released a discussion draft of bipartisan legislation which would eliminate the Medicare “sustainable growth rate” (SGR) payment system.  This legislation would freeze Medicare fee-for-service payments for 10 years while enabling providers to receive bonus payments based on their performance.  Under this proposal, nurse practitioners would be eligible to receive a new payment for the management of patients with complex chronic conditions.  AANP has strongly advocated for the inclusion of NPs in this provision and worked earlier this summer to have it included in similar legislation (H.R. 2810) approved by the House Energy & Commerce Committee.  It is important to note that this latest proposal doesn’t include specific ways to pay for SGR reform which will have an impact on whether any SGR reform becomes law.

Source: AANP Federal Legislative Update