U.S. Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz (PA-13) issued the following statement today following the House Energy and Commerce Committee's vote to approve bipartisan legislation to replace Medicare's physician payment system.
In February, Congresswoman Schwartz introduced the bipartisan Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act (H.R. 574) with Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) to repeal the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and set out a clear path toward comprehensive reforms of Medicare payment and delivery systems.
"Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee took an important, bipartisan step towards reforming the broken Medicare physician payment system. I commend the committee for its work on this issue, particularly in proposing additional quality and accountability measures. But I am concerned that the committee's bill maintains a fee-for-service payment system as the standard policy under Medicare. While the bill includes exceptions for alternative payment models, Congress should not miss this opportunity to fundamentally transform the current health care delivery system so that it rewards high-quality, high-value, team-based care," Congresswoman Schwartz said.