H.R. 4015, the "SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act"

On February 6, 2014, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, and House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman introduced a bipartisan, bicameral bill that would replace the broken Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula with an improved payment system that rewards quality, efficiency and innovation.  The bill merges the proposals passed overwhelmingly by each committee of jurisdiction in 2013, including H.R. 2810.

This bipartisan legislation repeals the flawed Medicare physician reimbursement formula, averting a pending 24% cut in payments to doctors that treat Medicare beneficiaries.  H.R. 4015 establishes a new payment system that rewards value and quality over volume, giving physicians positive incentives to improve performance each year.  

The bill also incentivizes coordination across payers and the transition to new payment models that focus on coordination and patient outcomes by providing a 5% bonus to physicians that provide a substantial portion of their care through alternate payment models.

Despite the bill's bipartisan beginnings, the House Republicans added a poison-pill offset that would cause 13 million people to lose insurance coverage and would raise premiums by 10% to 20%.  The House passed the amended version of the bill on March 14, 2014.