WASHINGTON Today bipartisan leaders from the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees released a working summary outlining the broader framework of an agreement being negotiated to permanently replace the broken Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula with a system that rewards quality, efficiency, and innovation. Committee leaders continue to make progress negotiating a comprehensive agreement that would further strengthen Medicare, extend vital health provisions, and extend the Childrens Health Insurance Program. This broader agreement builds upon the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act, H.R. 1470legislation reintroduced yesterday in the House along with a companion in the Senate.

Click here to see a working summary of the SGR package.

Find a one-page summary of H.R. 1470 here and a section-by-section here.

This framework would be an important first step to saving Medicare for our seniors, said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). These reforms would strengthen Medicare over the long term and move us toward a more patient-centered system.”

We have an important opportunity to do away with the flawed SGR once and for all and create more stability for seniors and doctors by putting Medicare and the way we pay physicians within the program on a firmer footing, said Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI). It is also vital that we extend the Childrens Health Insurance Program and other critical health provisions, including funding for community health centers. Im optimistic that we will soon reach a comprehensive bipartisan agreement long in the making.

This bipartisan agreement puts us on the road to real reforms to strengthen Medicare for our seniors and puts the broken Sustainable Growth Rate in the rearview mirror forever, said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). The SGR has generated repeated crises for nearly two decades. We have a historic opportunity to finally move to a system that promotes quality over quantity and begins the important work of addressing Medicares structural issues. This deal is good for seniors; its good for children. Lets get this done.

I am encouraged by the progress we are making to fix the SGR once and for all and end this vicious cycle of kicking the can down the road, said Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ). I am pleased that this bipartisan package, which strengthens Medicare for seniors and doctors alike, also extends critical programs such as CHIP and Community Health Center funding, and includes important permanent protections for low-income seniors and families.

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