
The physician shortage will worsen – unless Congress acts now
Congress has an opportunity to reverse the worsening physician shortage and bolster access to care for millions of people.
Just like the December 2024 continuing resolution, the current budget reconciliation bill fails to address the problem of Medicare reimbursing physicians at below market rates.
Medicare Trustees warned today that long-term access to care for seniors is threatened by Medicare’s failure to keep up with the cost of practicing medicine, adding to the drumbeat of similar warnings from policymakers and the American Medical Association.
MedPAC recommends overhauling Medicare updates of physician payments with a permanent, inflation-based formula tied to the Medicare Economic Index (MEI).
Continued federal underpayment of physicians is fueling a looming health care crisis by accelerating the nation’s physician shortage and undermining patient access to care.
Medicare reimbursement rates are well below market value and have failed to keep up with the rate of inflation or the rising costs of running a medical practice. This undercompensation is causing a physician shortage already being felt across the country.
Inadequate payment rates, high resource costs and regulatory red tape are increasingly driving physicians away from working in private practice and toward employment at hospitals or practices owned by private equity firms.
The AMA is optimistic about Congress passing legislation that would provide the long-term Medicare payment fix that physicians need so they can be confident that they are going to be able to financially sustain their practices.
The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule is at a breaking point, causing serious physician shortages — and unless policymakers act quickly to fix our healthcare system, things will only get worse. Policymakers in Washington need to step up and reform this broken system.
After unsuccessful attempts to include the reimbursement redo in a 2024 year-end spending bill and the continuing resolution in March, the GOP Doctors Caucus and its co-chair, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), are optimistic about finding a place for the so-called “doc fix” in the sprawling House GOP reconciliation bill that’s taking shape on Capitol Hill.
We’re dedicated to raising awareness of Medicare physician payment system problems so that we can work towards solutions that protect physician practices and patients’ access to care. It’s vital that patients and physicians use their voices to advocate for change.
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