- Center on Health Equity & Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Bills Released by Congressional Committees
The Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee jointly released their draft legislation to reform physician payment under Medicare on October 30.
The Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee jointly released their draft legislation to reform physician payment under Medicare on October 30. The Committees provided an eight page summary of the proposed bill and have asked ASH and other specialty societies to provide comments by November 12.
Briefly, the proposed legislation does the following:
- Repeals the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula preventing a 24 percent cut in physician payment in 2014 and annual cuts thereafter.
- Freezes the conversion factor (monetary index used to determine physician payment under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule) for 10 years.
- Starting in 2017, physician payments would be adjusted based on the physician's performance in a Value-Based Performance Payment Program (VBP).
Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/17IDlQa
Source: ASH
Hospital Participation in Medicare ACOs: No Change in Admission Practices and Spending
August 19th 2025Hospital accountable care organization (ACO) participation did not impact emergency department admission rates, length of stay, or costs, suggesting limited effectiveness in reducing spending for unplanned admissions and challenging hospital-led ACO cost-saving strategies.
Read More
Laundromats as a New Frontier in Community Health, Medicaid Outreach
May 29th 2025Lindsey Leininger, PhD, and Allister Chang, MPA, highlight the potential of laundromats as accessible, community-based settings to support Medicaid outreach, foster trust, and connect families with essential health and social services.
Listen
Care Quality Metrics in Medicare During COVID-19 Pandemic
August 12th 2025Medicare Advantage outperformed traditional Medicare on clinical quality measures before and during the COVID-19 pandemic; mid-pandemic, however, traditional Medicare narrowed the gap on some in-person screenings.
Read More
