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Learn how you can get involved in the fight to #FixMedicareNow
Get all the information and resources you need to make your voice heard in your advocacy to Congress at the AMA’s new Fix Medicare Now website. Ensure Congress works to address the critical issues physicians—and their patients—face due to the flawed Medicare physician payment system.
Did you know that physicians are the only providers whose Medicare payments do not automatically receive an annual inflationary update and as a result, Medicare physician payments have lagged 26% behind the rate of inflation growth since 2001?
During this current period of record inflation and coming on the heels of a highly disruptive pandemic, this statutory flaw often amplifies the impact of other payment policy changes like "budget neutrality" adjustments, performance incentives, and so forth.
The AMA has been fighting for Medicare physician payment reform for well over a decade, and the system remains on an unsustainable path. Temporary patches and ongoing cuts to the Medicare physician payment system have left patient access to care at serious risk.
Please visit fixmedicarenow.org today and learn more about the broken physician payment system and what Congress can do to fix it. This includes confronting payment inequities, injecting more financial stability into physician practices, and allowing them to invest in new ways of providing care – all of which will ultimately ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to high-quality care.
Resources to support your advocacy
The AMA’s new “Medicare basics” series is intended to provide relatively straightforward explanations for policymakers and physician advocates about elements of the payment system and why they are in need of reform.
- Medicare physician payment adequacy: Budget neutrality (PDF)
- Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) (PDF)
- The Medicare Economic Index (PDF)
- Advancing value-based care with alternative payment models (PDF)
As a reminder, the following charts are also available to let members of Congress know that the Medicare physician payment system needs reform to become a more sustainable, value-based system that better meets the needs of patients and physicians:
- Medicare provider updates for 2023 (PDF)
- Medicare updates compared to inflation (with comparison) (PDF)
- Medicare updates compared to inflation (without comparison) (PDF)
- Key measures of practice expense in the Medicare Economic Index (PDF)
- Medicare spending per enrollee (PDF)
- Real (inflation-adjusted) Medicare physician spending per enrollee (PDF)
All of these resources—and more—can be found on the Fix Medicare Now website.
