Protect Medicare patients and physician practices

In 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians faced a perfect storm of Medicare payment cuts by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. All told, it would have amounted to a 9.75% cut to some physicians, which would have severely impeded patient access to care due to the forced closure of physician practices. With the help of physician advocates across the country, the AMA was able to successfully work with Congress on legislation that delayed the payment cuts scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2022.

Unfortunately, history repeated itself in 2022 as physicians faced another round of cuts scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2023. Organized medicine fought to avert a combined 8.5% in Medicare payment cuts in the 2023 omnibus spending bill, but couldn’t stave off these cuts completely this time around, so physicians will see a 2% cut in Medicare payments this year, with at least a 1.25% cut in store for 2024. Once again, these cuts threaten the viability of physician practices and patients’ access to care.

Medicare physician pay has eroded by 30% over the last two decades relative to inflation and temporary patches to the Medicare physician payment system are not sustainable year after year. Congress must work with the medical community on long-term, substantive payment reforms and we urge Congressional hearings as soon as possible to ensure America’s Medicare patients continue to receive access to the care they need. Congress needs to establish a permanent, annual inflationary Medicare physician payment update that keeps up with the cost of practicing medicine and encourages practice innovation.

A rational Medicare payment system would ensure financial stability and predictability (including an annual inflationary update), promote value-based care, and safeguard access to high-quality care.