NAHC Signs onto Letter Providing Comments on House Framework to Repeal and Replace the Sustainable Growth Formula

Last month, the National Association of Homecare and Hospice (NAHC) was one of a dozen organizations that sent a letter to chairmen and health subcommittee chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the subject of Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) reform. Other organizations that signed the letter include the AARP, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the National Council on Aging.

The letter was sent in response to the revised framework that was released by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to repeal and replace the SGR. “We agree the SGR formula is fundamentally flawed and permanent changes to the Medicare reimbursement system are long overdue,” the letter states and continues, “the health needs of the Medicare population demand a payment system that appropriately values primary care, care coordination and preventative services.”

The letter highlights three principals that are not currently reflected in the revised framework that was released by the two committees.

The three principals are:

1. Protect people with Medicare from cost shifting.
2. Extend the permanent fix to critical Medicare benefits.
3. Promote quality care.

The letter details what, exactly, the three principals would mean for Medicare beneficiaries, why such issues must be included in any SGR reform formula, and why such measures are needed.

To read the full letter, please click here.

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