House passes SGR repeal in bipartisan 392-37 vote, bill heads to Senate

Thursday's vote came after a two-hour debate Thursday morning, with 212 Republicans and 180 Democrats voting in favor.

In a vote of 392 to 37, the U.S. House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved H.R. 2, the bill to replace the sustainable growth rate. The pressure is now on the Senate, which is scheduled to take a two week recess starting next week. The Senate could pass the bill as written or put in place a temporary fix and come back to it in mid-April.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could also temporarily hold claims.

April 1 is the deadline for the expiration for the last doc fix that prevented physicians from getting a 21-25 percent pay cut on Medicare reimbursement, as mandated by SGR.

[Also: No ICD-10 delay in SGR fix]

Thursday’s vote came after a two-hour morning debate, with 212 Republicans and 180 Democrats voting in favor and 33 Republicans and four Democrats voting against the bill. Four Democrats didn’t cast a vote for a total 392 yea’s to 37 nays.

Passage would end the 'doc fixes' that Congress has passed 17 times in the past 20 years to delayt drastic pay cuts to physicians for Medicare reimbursement.

The SGR fix would move Medicare reimbursement rom a model of fee-for-service to one that value-based, a trend that is reshaping the entire U.S. healthcare industry. It also continues funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. To pay for this, the bills calls for stiffer fines for tax delinquent Medicare service providers, keeping reimbursement for acute care providers to 1 percent and by upping premiums for wealthier Medicare beneficiaries.

[Also: SGR bill raises premiums for weathly Medicare recipients]

The bill would also add $145 billion in government spending, widening the deficit, according to a report released this week by the Congressional Budget Office.

The bill would also increase revenues by about $4 billion, for a total $141 billion increase in the federal budget deficit, the CBO said.

[Also: CBO says SGR bill will widen deficit]

However, the bill would cost $900,000 million less over the 2015-2025 period than if Medicare payment rates to physicians were frozen at current levels, the CBO said.The 17 patches have come at the cost of $170 billion, according to House and Energy Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton, R-MI.

“The SGR is a flawed formula that places quantity ahead of quality in seniors’ healthcare,” Upton said in a statement Thursday.

Twitter: @SusanMorseHFN