[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H1885-H1886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE SUSTAINABLE GROWTH RATE FORMULA

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, in just a little bit over a month's time, 
the Nation's physicians will face a 25 percent reduction in payment in 
the Medicare system. This severely affects access for Medicare patients 
and is something that could be resolved.
  Two weeks ago, for the first time, introduced in the House, H.R. 4015 
was a compromise agreement between Republicans and Democrats, House and 
Senate, on a way forward for repealing the sustainable growth rate 
formula.
  It does represent a compromise and is not going to please everyone, 
but it is a significant achievement and was marked by an editorial 
piece in The Wall Street Journal on February 19 titled ``Fixing the 
`Doc Fix.' ''
  In the Journal's editorial, they note that the Senate Finance, House 
Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce Committees don't agree on much, 
but they are doing a service by agreeing to end this charade known as 
the SGR.
  They go on to note that ``doctors hate the uncertainty of the SGR.'' 
That is an understatement. Every Member of this House has heard from 
their physicians back home about how much they hate this formula.
  They go on to say, ``Absent reform, one way or another the money is 
going

[[Page H1886]]

to be spent, and Congress can either continue to do so in incremental 
doc-fix slices or admit in advance that it was always going to do it.''
  In fact, the time has come. It is within our power. We should repeal 
the SGR and pass H.R. 4015.

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