The White House budget released on Monday includes a two-year fix to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, which determines Medicare reimbursements. The two-year proposal includes a number of politically tough provisions, such as getting generic versions of biologic drugs to market faster and restricting generic manufacturer's ability to drop patent challenges in exchange for cash payments from brand-name drug makers.
A two-year fix is seen by some as vital for building physician support for the healthcare reform law and would give Congress thru 2013 to find a permanent solution.
Congress voted five times last year to delay cuts in Medicare physician payments. The mos recent $19 billion fix expires at the end of 2011. Physicians face a 28 percent cut in their reimbursements at the end of this year if the proposed fix, or some variation of it is not enacted this session.
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