A bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 would serve as a 

permanent “doc fix.” The Medicare Physician Payment Innovation Act (MPPIA) (H.R. 574), co-sponsored 

by Allison Schwartz (Dem. Pa.) and Joe Heck (Rep. Nev.), would end the use of the Sustainable Growth 

Rate (SGR) to pay physicians for Medicare services. 

 

Since 2002, Congress has had to intervene to prevent rate cuts to physicians and other providers who 

bill for Medicare Part B services. These cuts are driven by the SGR methodology which ties the annual 

adjustments to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule to economic growth. The MMPIA seeks to take an 

incremental approach towards implementing an alternative to the SGR. 

 

Contact: Patrick Cucinelli, pcucinelli@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8827