Oct. 4, 2024: Medicare Payment Reform Advocacy Update

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Deadline extended: Urge your members of Congress to take action on Medicare
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Deadline extended: Urge your members of Congress to take action on Medicare

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule (MPFS) that includes yet another 2.8% cut to physician Medicare payments on Jan. 1, 2025.

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If Congress does not act before the end of the year, this planned cut will mark the fifth consecutive year that CMS included a cut to physician payments within the MPFS. Failure to stop these cuts threatens Medicare beneficiary access to physicians and other health care providers treating patients in the outpatient setting.

Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), along with a bipartisan group of physician members of Congress, recently circulated a "Dear Colleague" letter urging House leadership to take immediate action to not only stop the 2.8% cut, but also provide physicians with a much-needed payment update that reflects the inflationary pressure they are facing running a medical practice.

The deadline for co-signers has been extended until Oct. 11—please continue to contact your members of Congress and urge them to sign the “Dear Colleague” letter. We are aiming to secure a majority of House members as co-signers.

According to recent data, physician Medicare payment rates have fallen 29% over the last two decades when adjusted for inflation, all while the cost of running a practice continues to rise. In fact, the 2025 MPFS Proposed Rule highlights that the cost of running a practice, as measured by the Medicare Economic Index (e.g., expenses associated with paying rent, compensating clinical and administrative staff, and purchasing supplies and equipment) is estimated to increase by 3.6%.

This path is unsustainable—another round of cuts combined with ever-rising inflationary costs and a long history of insufficient Medicare payments will endanger both physician practices and the patients they serve.

Physicians stand ready to work with Congress to pass crucial bipartisan legislation to address these issues before the next round of cuts goes into effect. Contact your members of Congress to Fix Medicare Now.

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