Listen now (32 mins) | Listen Now In 1997 the Congress reformed how it pays physicians under Medicare. The new formula was termed the "sustainable growth rate" (SGR). The impetus for the reform was to control better Medicare cost growth. (Medicare physician payments now exceed $100 billion annually). Largely because of the concern physicians would limit seeing Medicare patients if their Medicare reimbursement rates were cut, the Congress has not enforced the SGR since 2002. Despite the realization the SGR is unalterably broken, the Congress has been unable or unwilling to amend the law. Though the upaid SGR tab is presently $138 billion this amount is substantially less than previous calculations that approached $300 billion (due to a recent decline in Medicare utilization). With debt and deficit reduction talks expected to re-emerge over the next few months will the Congress finally find the wherewithal to fix the docs?