Beginning this afternoon, the full House Energy and Commerce Committee will mark up legislation to reform the Medicare physician payment system based on the sustainable growth rate (SGR). The bill passed the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee by voice vote last week, but there has been no word on whether the bill will be taken up on the House floor.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) will hold a Finance Committee meeting Wednesday to discuss the SGR. Earlier this month the committee held a hearing on the SGR, but no further action has been taken.
Two House committees will hold hearings Thursday regarding Affordable Care Act implementation. The Ways and Means Committee will hear from Gary Cohen, JD, deputy administrator and director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, and Daniel I. Werfel, JD, MPP, principal deputy commissioner and deputy commissioner for services and enforcement at the Internal Revenue Service, regarding implementation of the health insurance exchanges and the employer mandate delay. The Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Aug. 1, titled, PPACA Pulse Check, with witness Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
