Republican House leaders are seeking to hold a vote next week on legislation that would permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, according to a March 11 report in the Wall Street Journal.
The fix -- which would cost $174 billion over 10 years -- would put an end to decades of short-term patches. But it will likely spark a war among Republicans about how to pay for it, the WSJ reported.
Last April, President Obama signed a yearlong patch that expires on March 31. If Congress doesn't act by then, physicians will see a 21.2% cut to their Medicare payments starting April 1.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, issued a statement on the effort.
"I've been in Congress long enough to be skeptical of rumors, but what we are hearing from the House suggests there is real movement to fully repeal and replace the flawed formula for paying Medicare providers known as SGR," Wyden said.
