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.
For the last two years, the U.S. Congress has failed to stop in their entirety repeated across-the-board pay cuts that further threaten Medicare access to high-quality physician care, especially for patients in rural, underserved or economically marginalized areas.
The influential Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended that physician payment be tied to the Medicare Economic Index (MEI), but the commission is calling for the payment update to be just 50% of the index.
Half of this year’s 3.37% pay cut is allowed to stand after partial relief in budget deal. The AMA will relentlessly lead the charge for systemic reform.
Shadi Kourosh, MD, MPH, joins WCVB-TV to discuss how cuts to the payments Medicare makes to doctors threatens patient care.
More than 100,000 doctors have left private practice and become employees of hospitals and other corporate entities since 2019. Today, nearly three in four physicians are employees of larger health care entities or other corporations — a record high.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman and U.S. Sen. Peter Welch along with 30 other lawmakers call on Senate leaders to advance a legislative solution to support access to Medicare services.
Medicare physician payment cuts are creating an unsustainable environment for physician practices and threaten patients’ access to care.
Congress should reverse cuts to Medicare payments or risk driving away doctors who treat seniors with complex needs.
Medicare physician payment is not keeping up with inflation. This has repercussions for patients’ access to care.
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.