
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.
Under the newly proposed 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, doctors would see a 2.8% reduction in average payment rates.
The Biden administration is proposing a 2.8% decrease to physician payments in its newly released pay proposal for physicians, drawing near-immediate protest from the industry.
Proposal would mean five straight years of cuts and sends clear signal: With older adults’ access to care on the line, Congress must fix Medicare now.
It seems my parents' previous primary care physician – with whom they had a longstanding relationship – left and was very blunt about why: Medicare reimbursements had forced her practice to consolidate with a major hospital system.
The Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is well-intentioned, but its reporting requirements are burdensome to physician practices and often appear to be clinically irrelevant, with a focus on checking boxes rather than improving care.
The gap between rising costs of providing care and falling Medicare physician payment will “become a significant issue in the long term.”
Doctors are paid 29% less today, when adjusted for inflation. This unsustainable path threatens older adults’ access to high-quality physician care.
Just months after Congress again failed to stop in its entirety a pay cut that threatens Medicare patients’ access to high-quality physician care, the AMA House of Delegates made crystal clear the imperative to step up the pressure on the nation’s lawmakers and boost patient awareness about the dire need for Medicare payment reform.
More than half of doctors still work in practices with 10 or fewer physicians. The viability of these physician practices—as well as those serving patients in rural, economically marginalized or underserved areas—may be at risk because Medicaid pays them even less than Medicare does.
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.