AMA President Robert M. Wah, M.D. issued the following statement in response to today's HHS announcement regarding new goals for transitioning Medicare's payment system:

“Today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aligns with the American Medical Association’s commitment to work toward innovative care delivery reform that will promote high-quality and efficient care for our nation’s seniors who count on Medicare, while reducing the administrative and regulatory burdens physicians face today.

“Physicians have many ideas for redesigning and improving the delivery of high-quality patient care in this country. We strongly support reform of the Medicare payment system, including elimination of Medicare’s flawed sustainable growth rate formula, which provides a pathway for physicians to innovate and develop new models of health care delivery for our patients.

"We look forward to hearing more details behind the percentages HHS put forward as well has their plans to reach these percentage targets.

“We staunchly support efforts that will improve the information and data available to physicians so that they will have better information for better decisions about treatment plans for their patients, and we look forward to participating in the Learning and Action Network and working collaboratively to achieve the goals of improving health care delivery.

"Patients benefit when physicians have the flexibility and resources to redesign care, and when payers provide new payment models that can support physician efforts to improve patient care and lower health care costs over the long-term.”

About the AMA
The American Medical Association is the premier national organization dedicated to empowering the nation’s physicians to continually provide safer, higher quality, and more efficient care to patients and communities. For more than 165 years the AMA has been unwavering in its commitment to using its unique position and knowledge to shape a healthier future for America. For more information, visit ama-assn.org.