Physician groups renewed their calls for an overhaul of Medicare's approach to clinician payment after Medicare on Thursday formally announced an expected drop in the base rate used in the physician fee schedule for next year.

Although the Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is well-intentioned, its reporting requirements are burdensome to physician practices and often appear to be clinically irrelevant and more focused on checking boxes rather than improving care.

The AMA has been on the road fighting for Medicare physician payment reform for well over a decade, and the system remains on an unsustainable path.

At the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA), the nation’s physicians called for a multipronged campaign to overhaul the outdated Medicare payment system, saying that patient access and survival of practices are at risk.

Physicians have seen their inflation-adjusted payments drop 26% since 2001 to 2023, and those payments are further eroded by frequent and large payment redistributions statutorily required by budget-neutrality adjustments contained in the annual Medicare physician payment schedule.

“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.