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.
“Once the House debates and comes to consensus on an issue, we can go to policymakers on Capitol Hill, and we can say: ‘It’s not AMA’s opinion, it is the profession’s opinion, it is the profession’s policy.’”
The American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD) meeting in Chicago this past week featured discussions on a wide variety of issues, from Medicare payment rates for physicians, to wheelchairs on airplanes, to "legacy" medical school admissions.
At its annual meeting in Chicago this week, the American Medical Association’s (AMA's) House of Delegates adopted a new policy that declared Medicare physician payment reform an "urgent advocacy and legislative priority" for the organization.
Congress is taking early steps towards changing the way Medicare pays physicians.
Months of high-level discussions regarding reforming Medicare physician payment has culminated in physician lawmakers introducing bipartisan legislation advancing the first leg of the AMA’s three-part strategy for fixing the broken system.
The succinct bill HR 2474 would tie the Medicare fee schedule to the Medicare Economic Index, something the AMA has long supported. Doing so would put physicians on equal footing with almost all other health care providers by instituting an annual inflation-based update.
Doctors' groups are lining up to support new federal legislation to permanently tie Medicare physician payment updates to inflation.
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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