Medicare Physician Payment Reform: Urge Congress to Support Key Legislation
According to the American Medical Association, when adjusted for inflation, Medicare reimbursement for physician services has declined 33% from 2001 to 2026. Without capping these damaging cuts to physician Medicare reimbursement and other key reforms, doctors are unable to sustainably run their medical practices, forcing many to close their doors or consolidate with larger organizations and leaving communities with fewer local care options.
Please take action on the following two grassroots alerts!
Urge Congress to support The Provider Reimbursement Stability Act
The Provider Reimbursement Stability Act, H.R. 8163 and newly introduced S. 5180, takes a major step in modernizing Medicare physician payment by modernizing key budget neutrality rules, ensuring fairness and predictability for medical practices and stability for physicians and patients.
H.R. 8163 and S. 5180 promote reimbursement stability and protects physicians by:
- Updating the budget neutrality threshold.
- Mandating that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services evaluate the actual base costs for running a medical practice at least every five years.
- Revising how CMS addresses incorrect billing codes.
Urge your members of Congress to get behind this key Medicare reform bill.
Urge your representative to cosponsor The Patients First Act
The recently introduced Patients First Act, H.R. 9693, would reform the Medicare physician payment system by providing greater stability, expanding opportunities for participation in payment models, and better aligning payment updates with the actual costs of care and inflation. H.R. 9693 would stabilize Medicare by:
- Providing a permanent annual payment update tied to the Medicare Economic Index to better reflect increases in practice costs.
- Modernizing budget neutrality policies, including provisions from H.R. 8163.
- Creating a physician-led process for developing simplified, clinically relevant quality measures.
- Expanding opportunities for physicians to participate in alternative payment models.
Contact your representative in Congress today and urge them to cosponsor the Patients First Act, H.R. 9693.
The WSMA sent letters to every member of Washington’s congressional delegation urging them to cosponsor H.R. 9693. The legislation represents a significant step toward addressing longstanding flaws in Medicare physician payment and helping ensure patients continue to have access to physician care.
Tips on engaging in federal advocacy
For those who are interested in more information about the federal landscape and how physicians can engage in advocacy efforts, the AMA is holding a webinar at 5 p.m. on Aug. 12. Register for the webinar here.