AMA
December 23, 2011

Agreement Ends Stalemate on SGR Cuts

Below is a press statement issued by House Speaker Boehner, announcing that the House and Senate have reached agreement on a two month extension of important policies that expire on January 1, including a reprieve from the 27.4 percent Medicare physician payment cut that is scheduled to take effect. Legislators plan to approve this proposal before Christmas, and a House-Senate conference committee will convene in January to work on a longer-term agreement. At a press conference, Speaker Boehner said the goal is to extend all the expiring programs for a full year, except for the physician payment cut reprieve which is to be extended for two years.

In a press statement released today, the AMA urged Congress to use this time constructively and develop the permanent solution to the sustainable growth rate formula that all agree is needed.

WASHINGTON, DC – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement:

"Senator Reid and I have reached an agreement that will ensure taxes do not increase for working families on January 1 while ensuring that a complex new reporting burden is not unintentionally imposed on small business job creators. Under the terms of our agreement, a new bill will be approved by the House that reflects the bipartisan agreement in the Senate along with new language that allows job creators to process and withhold payroll taxation under the same accounting structure that is currently in place. The Senate will join the House in immediately appointing conferees, with instructions to reach agreement in the weeks ahead on a full-year payroll tax extension. We will ask the House and Senate to approve this agreement by unanimous consent before Christmas. I thank our Members – particularly those who have remained here in the Capitol with the holidays approaching – for their efforts to enact a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut for working families."