Manufactured out of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the goal of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) was to limit the growth in Medicare spending to keep it in line with inflation. Under the SGR, if overall physician payment costs exceeded target expenditures, a cut to Medicare physician payment was triggered.
Following AMA advocacy in leading the charge to reform the Medicare payment system, a bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives has introduced a bill that would provide a 4.7% payment update in 2025.
Congress should implement an annual, inflation-based payment update as part of the Medicare payment system for doctors, two rheumatologists write.
Despite decades of constant health-system upheaval during the once-in-a-lifetime COVID-19 pandemic, physicians have been there for America’s patients.
“The proposed Medicare physician payment schedule released today is a critical reminder that patients and physicians desperately need Congress to develop a permanent solution that addresses the financial instability and threatens access to care.”
As part of its campaign to fix the unsustainable Medicare physician payment system, the AMA is outlining in a quick, easily navigable fashion the policy changes needed to remove obstacles to the successful use of clinical data registries in the program.
As part of its campaign to fix the unsustainable Medicare physician payment system, the AMA is outlining in a quick, easily navigable fashion why doctors’ Medicare payments must be tied to an inflation index called the Medicare Economic Index (MEI).
As part of its campaign to fix the unsustainable Medicare physician payment system, the AMA is outlining in a quick, easily navigable fashion the policy changes needed to realize the robust physician pathway to alternative payment models (APMs) that Congress envisioned.
The Biden administration has released the proposed physician fee schedule for 2024, and a 3.34% decrease in the conversion factor is likely to draw plenty of ire from docs.
Doctors would receive a 1.25% pay cut next year under the Medicare physician fee schedule proposed rule, fueling requests to tie the reimbursement rate to inflation.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing a nearly 3.4% cut to the "conversion factor" used to set the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2024, and physician groups are none too happy about it.
Imagine if your problem persisted for 20 years with no solution; you might seek another doctor. Yet every year, that’s the scenario physicians and patients face with the failing Medicare physician payment system.
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.
Click the button below to learn about the various ways to get involved in the fight to Fix Medicare Now.