SGR Repeal and Medicare Beneficiary Access Act of 2013
Latest action. By Senator Baucus from Committee on Finance filed written report. Report No. 113-135.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
SGR Repeal and Medicare Beneficiary Access Act of 2013 - Title I: Medicare Payment for Physicians' Services - (Sec. 101) Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) end and remove sustainable growth rate (SGR) methodology from the determination of annual conversion factors in the formula for payment for physicians' services; (2) freeze the update to the single conversion factor at 0.00% for 2014 through 2023, and (3) establish an update of 2% for health professionals participating in alternative payment models (APMs) and an update of 1% for all other health professionals after 2023.
Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to report to Congress on the relationship between: (1) physician and other health professional utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) of items and services for which Medicare payment is made, and (2) total utilization and expenditures (and their rate of increase) under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance), B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), and D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program).
Revises and consolidates components of the three specified existing performance incentive programs into a value-based performance (VBP) incentive program the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to establish, under which VBP eligible professionals (excluding most APM participants) receive annual payment increases or decreases based on their performance. Applies such VBP program only to payments for items and services furnished on or after January 1, 2017.
Limits VBP eligible professionals to physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and, for the third and succeeding years of the VBP program, other eligible professionals as specified by the Secretary.
Excludes from the ranks of VBP eligible professionals any eligible professional who: (1) is a qualifying APM participant; (2) is a partial qualifying APM participant for the most recent period for which data are available and who, for the performance period with respect to such year, does not report on certain measures and activities required to be reported by a professional under the VBP program; or (3) does not exceed, for the performance period concerned, the low-volume threshold measurement selected by the Secretary.
The summary continues for 103 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to Senate without amendment" stage on December 19, 2013. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on January 16, 2014: By Senator Baucus from Committee on Finance filed written report. Report No. 113-135.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
MAX BAUCUS (D-MT) introduced it on December 19, 2013. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on December 19, 2013, 4648 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4620 days ago, on January 16, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers