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• Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS)
• Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR)

The Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) is a statutory formula which is part of an overall system used to determine annual Medicare physician fee updates (ie, the conversion factor). The SGR is designed to ensure the sustainability of the Medicare program by aligning spending with specific expenditure targets that prospectively reduce fees whenever aggregate spending exceeds those targets.

The ACR believes Congress urgently needs to put in place a new formula or mechanism for updating Medicare physician fees in 2006 and thereafter and to replace the current Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) system. The College believes this must be done in order to ensure the long-term stability of the Medicare physician payment system and future access to physicians' services for Medicare beneficiaries. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently published the reports below regarding the SGR.

The College, along with other medical specialty societies, has already begun to work with Congress to enact viable solutions in order to avoid this potential crisis in physician payment. We will continue this work until a solution is found.

• Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiary Access to Physician Services
• Considerations for Reforming the Sustainable Growth Rate System

• Tying Physician Payments to Quality Performance