Cassidy, Bennet, Welch, Burgess Introduce Legislation to Extend Technical Support Program for Small, Rural Health Practices

Statement

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), and U.S. Representatives Peter Welch (D-VT) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) introduced the Small Practice, Underserved, and Rural Support Program Extension Act of 2022 (SURS Extension Act). The SURS Extension Act would reauthorize the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) technical assistance initiative that assists small health care practices in rural and underserved areas with completing the reporting requirements of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) known as the Small, Underserved, and Rural Support (SURS) program. The SURS program is set to end on February 15, 2022 if Congress does not take action to extend it.

"Small health care providers in rural and underserved areas don't have the big administrative staffs to deal with complex Medicare reporting requirements," said Dr. Cassidy. "This legislation gives support to small practice docs so they can focus on providing the best quality care for their communities."

"Extending the SURS program is an important bipartisan effort that will help small providers in Colorado and across the nation," said Bennet. "Our legislation will extend the program, helping small and many rural providers move towards quality payment models and, in turn, lowering costs and improving outcomes for patients. I'll continue working with my colleagues to ensure we secure an extension of this vital program."

"This legislation extends much-needed help for the small and rural health care providers that are at the heart of Vermont's health care system," said Welch."Extending the QPP-SURS program helps make sure that rural clinicians get the technical assistance they need to provide high quality affordable and accessible care to Medicare patients."

"Our health care heroes have put it all on the line over the duration of this pandemic," said Dr. Burgess. "We have a responsibility to support them in every way we can. This program has been successful in providing the technical support needed to navigate reporting requirement for rural and underserved physicians who want to transition to value-based care. We must provide this support to physicians who want to modernize their models of care."