Recently the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation that would permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, but the U.S. Senate did not act before leaving on a two-week recess. The existing SGR patch expired on April 1, meaning the 21 percent cut to Medicare payments is now in effect.

Although the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has instructed its carriers to “hold” claims for 10 business days (through April 14), the U.S. Senate must act immediately upon return next week to avoid damaging cuts that will disrupt physician practices and put patients at serious risk of not getting the care they need and deserve.

Please contact our U.S. senators today and urge them to support H.R. 2 immediately when they return from break. You can call our senators' district offices using the AMA's toll-free Grassroots Hotline: (800) 833-6354. Or use MSMS Engage to send an urgent email to senators reinforcing the need for SGR repeal now.

For more information, read the bill summary (PDF) and be sure to check out fixmedicarenow.org for all the latest information from the AMA.

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