Rep. Yoder Votes “Yes” on Sustainable Growth Rate Repeal

Washington, D.C. – Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2, bipartisan legislation that repeals the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) and strengthens Medicare through needed reform, by a vote of 392-37. The SGR formula is a cap on spending approved by Congress in 1997 that attempted to reduce Medicare payments for physician services. However, as health care costs grew faster than the economy, the law threatened real harm to doctors’ ability to serve Medicare patients. In 2003, Congress began passing “doc fix” bills – 17 in all – to stave off those cuts. After voting in favor of today’s repeal and reform legislation, Representative Kevin Yoder issued the following statement:

“The passage of H.R. 2 is a milestone achievement for the 114th Congress. For years, we have passed these short-term ‘doc fixes’ that have prevented severe cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors, but have also kicked the can down the road. Today, a bipartisan majority voted to permanently address the problem by passing a bill that provides better health care for seniors and real savings for the taxpayers. The new formula rewards physicians that meet quality and value standards and returns stability to Medicare physician payments.

“Perhaps more importantly, with the passage of this bill we are seeing the first meaningful entitlement reform in decades. The CBO estimates that these two reforms – which amount to asking higher-income seniors to pay a little more for their premiums for Parts B and D and encouraging Medigap beneficiaries to think more like consumers when making their health care decisions – will save taxpayers $230 billion in the second decade after the enactment of this legislation alone.

“I commend my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for agreeing to these structural reforms that we know will reduce costs and put Medicare on a more sound footing. These changes will hopefully set the stage for further reforms that will both keep our promise to seniors and preserve these programs for future generations.”

###