With 12 days to spare before a 21% reduction in physician Medicare payments takes effect, a bipartisan coalition of House and Senate lawmakers introduced identical bills that would scrap the SGR-based formula for physician reimbursement. Medscape.com reported that the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2015 would boost physician pay by 0.5% during the second half of 2015 and in subsequent years from 2016 through 2019. The legislation redesigns the Medicare payment model from fee-for-service to pay-for-performance, and it also merges Medicare’s EHR and quality-reporting programs for easier administration by providers. Later this week or early next week, the House is expected to amend the legislation to extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two more years.

For the first time in recent memory, GOP leaders in both houses are indicating they won’t insist on specifying “pay-fors” for the entire cost of the bill. While Tea Party Republicans in the House are still calling for a complete cost offset, House Speaker John Boehner could get the bill passed amid Tea Party objections if he musters enough Democratic support.

In an online statement responding to the legislative filing, AAOS President Frederick Azar, MD, said, “The AAOS commends congressional leadership for introducing legislation to permanently repeal and replace the SGR formula.”

Stay tuned to OrthoBuzz…more will be revealed.