Lawmakers Plan 30-90 Day SGR Patch As Bridge To Putting SGR Repeal In Deficit Deal In Spring

Lawmakers Plan 30-90 Day SGR Patch As Bridge To Putting SGR Repeal In Deficit Deal In Spring-insidehealthpolicy: House Energy & Commerce Chair Fred Upton (R-MI) said at a Wednesday morning meeting that Congress is working on a short-term physician payment patch that could allow Congress to include permanent payment reform in a debt ceiling deal in the spring, according to an attendee of the breakfast meeting sponsored by Villanova Center for Marketing and Public Policy Research. The debt ceiling comes up in February, but Upton was likely expressing the more realistic expectation that Congress will push back that deadline to work out a debt ceiling deal, the source said. Upton also said he wants to bring his SGR repeal bill back up in the spring, but lobbyists said the alternative proposal by House Ways & Means and Senate Finance is viewed as the lead legislation.