WE PERMANENTLY ELIMINATED THE SGR
2015 SDcms Annual Report
A 21% cut to physicians’ Medicare payments was set to take place on April 15, 2015. Instead, HR 2 — the monumental, bipartisan Medicare SGR Payment Reform and CHIP Reauthorization Act — was passed by the House of Representatives 392–37, by the Senate 92–8, and signed by the president, providing positive annual payment updates of 0.5% starting July 2015 and lasting through 2019. SDCMS and CMA extend a sincere thank you to all member physicians for the extraordinary campaign this last decade to end the SGR, holding Congress’s feet to the fire to develop a comprehensive bill to reform Medicare physician payments. The unity within organized medicine finally put this over the finish line. Moreover, Senators Feinstein and Boxer and 52 out of 54 members of the California congressional delegation voted to support physicians — a direct result of long-term SDCMS and CMA advocacy. Many will claim credit, but let there be no doubt that SDCMS-CMA member physician dues dollars made this happen. Combine this huge SGR win with the victories on Proposition 46, GPCI, arresting the Medi-Cal cuts for three years, preventing any Medi-Cal clawbacks, stopping scope of practice expansions — the list could go on — and the message could not be any clearer: Nonmember physicians have received significant value from member dues dollars; please join your fellow physicians who have contributed to these successes by becoming an SDCMS-CMA member today!
SAN DIEGO PHYSICIAN.org
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