More than 230 lawmakers in the House of Representatives have sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urging House leadership to address the scheduled 2.8% Medicare reimbursement cut for physicians before the end of 2024.
The letter's lead author was Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD, of Iowa, who said in an Oct. 15 news release that long-term payment reform is desperately needed, "but a temporary fix is also critical." The Medicare physician payment cut is slated to take effect Jan. 1.
"The scheduled 2.8% reduction represents the fifth consecutive year that CMS issued a fee schedule regulation lowering payments to physicians and other clinicians," the letter continued. "While Congress has intervened in the past four years to mitigate portions of these cuts, the fact remains that the [Medicare physician fee schedule] is inherently broken."
The letter added that continued payment cuts undermine the ability of independent clinical practices to care for their community which reduces patient access to care, especially in rural and underserved areas.
"To prevent the very real scenario of insufficient access to physicians and other clinicians treating Medicare patients, Congress must stop the 2.8% payment cut from occurring in 2025, enact targeted reforms to statutory budget neutrality requirements, and provide physicians with a payment update reflective of inflationary pressures," the letter said.
Read the full letter here.