The American Medical Association (AMA) has issued a statement strongly opposing a plan under consideration by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) for offsetting the cost of repealing the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.
While repealing the SGR this year is a step that Congress must take, doing so with the drastic cuts proposed last week by MedPAC would be "disastrous" for Medicare patients' access to care and would derail delivery innovations that are key to improving coordination and lowering healthcare costs, according to comments attributed to Dr. Peter Carmel, AMA president.
Carmel also said the cuts in the framework are inconsistent with MedPAC's previous recommendations to stop cuts to physicians because they threaten access to care for patients and would have severe consequences for the Medicare system.
