“Physicians across the country, who treat Medicare patients out of the goodness of their hearts, continue to be crushed by Medicare reimbursement cuts by bureaucrats in Washington. I am point-blank fed up with this nonsense” said Murphy, M.D. “Rural communities have been overwhelmingly impacted by these cuts over the years. This bipartisan legislation takes aim at some of the harmful cuts set to burden physicians come January 1st.”

“There is a staffing crisis in our health care system that is a danger for patients,” said Cárdenas. “Cuts to resources that health care providers rely on limit a doctor’s ability to provide quality care, contribute to high burnout rates, and make it more difficult for Americans to find care in a timely manner. This bill prevents existential cuts and ensures practices are stable and doctors have the resources they need to keep seniors healthy.”


Background:
The “Physician Fee Schedule Update and Improvements Act” was introduced in December.

Increasing the budget neutrality from $20 million to $53 million would allow for greater flexibility in determining pricing adjustments for services without leading to harmful payment cuts for doctors. Because the payment structure is budget neutral, doctors regularly face cuts when certain services receive payment increases.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) did not update supply and equipment prices between 2005-2019 and also did not update clinical staff wage rates between 2002-2022. While CMS did eventually update payment rates, incremental increases would have allowed doctors to plan better. This bill brings needed stabilization to reimbursement and updates the formula to reflect accurate costs of running a medical practice.

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