BALTIMORE — Under Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, CMS' final physician fee schedule rule for 2011 requires physician payments to be reduced on Dec. 1, 2010, and then again on Jan. 1, 2011. "The total reduction in [Medicare physician fee schedule] rates between November 2010 and January 2011 under the [SGR] system will be 24.9 percent," according to the rule.
Just like competitive bidding for DMEPOS, the reductions can only be averted by an act of Congress. In June, President Obama signed legislation that reversed a scheduled 21 percent pay cut for doctors and replaced it with a 2.2 percent increase through the end of November. But without any additional action, the docs' reimbursements will be reduced by 23 percent on Dec. 1, followed by another 1.9 percent reduction in January.