From the American Academy of Ophthalmology

The U.S. Senate passed a budget bill today that temporarily stops the 24 percent cut in Medicare physician pay scheduled for Jan. 1. The cut, caused by the faulty sustainable growth rate formula, is delayed until April 1. During the reprieve physicians will get a positive 0.5 percent pay update. Medicare providers will partially pay for the budget bill through a two-year extension of the 2 percent annual sequestration cut. The sequestration cut will now go through 2023. The U.S. House passed the bill last week. President Obama has indicated that he will sign it into law.

The Academy continues to lobby Congress to pass a bill permanently repealing the SGR formula. Three committees with oversight over Medicare – the Senate Committee on Finance, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Ways and Means – have passed proposals to reform physician pay that include the SGR repeal. The Academy is pressing the committees to make changes to their proposals that would ensure reforms are fair to all physicians, including ophthalmologists and other specialists. Take a moment to call or write your members of Congress today. Urge them to pass fair Medicare physician pay reforms that will protect seniors’ access to care.

For more information, contact the Academy’s Governmental Affairs division at 202.737.6662.