Ask Your Member of Congress to Sign on to SGR Repeal Letter Led by Rep. Allyson Schwartz The ACC supports all efforts to permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula as part of any deficit reduction plan enacted by Congress. Under the current formula, a 29.5 percent cut is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2012. The SGR currently represents $300 billion in unaccounted-for Medicare spending and poses a serious threat to the continued access to physicians and other providers for Medicare beneficiaries. Since 2003, Congress has acted to overturn scheduled cuts in the SGR formula, intervening on 12 separate occasions to prevent cuts from taking effect. Five separate bills were passed to avert a 22 percent cut in 2010 alone. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) is leading a letter addressed to the 12 members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, urging the Committee to include a permanent repeal of the SGR in its recommendations. Rep. Schwartz’s letter stresses the need to provide near-term stability in Medicare payment rates and create a pathway to comprehensive physician payment reform. ACC is joining the effort by the American Medical Association, along with other professional societies, to ask our membership to reach out to their Representatives to urge them to sign Rep. Schwartz’s letter calling for the elimination of the SGR. We encourage you to act today to ask your Member of Congress to sign on. Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be put through to your Representative’s office. Once connected, ask to speak to the health legislative assistant and tell them that you would like your Representative to sign on to the SGR repeal letter led by Rep. Allyson Schwartz. If you would like to send your Representative a letter, please click here.