The following statement is attributable to:
Bruce A. Scott, M.D.
President, American Medical Association
“The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) voted today to recommend linking next year’s physician payment update to the growth in the cost of providing care, exhibiting a keen grasp of what is needed to help ensure patients will have continued access to care. Congress should take note.
“The American Medical Association (AMA) supports tying Medicare updates to the full Medicare Economic Index (MEI), or practice cost inflation. MedPAC voted today to recommend a 2026 payment update to physician practices of MEI minus 1 percentage point. This recommendation slightly adjusts the formula it endorsed last year to increase payment by 50 percent of MEI. While neither recommendation covers the estimated inflation that physician practices face, both approaches embrace the fact that Medicare payment updates need to be tied to inflation.
“When MedPAC forwards its report to Congress in March, the AMA hopes that lawmakers heed MedPAC’s analysis concluding that Medicare payment to physician practices under current law is inadequate and downright threatening to patient access to care. Unfortunately, in December Congress failed to stop another cut in Medicare payments for a fifth consecutive year—this time by 2.8% —despite practice costs rising by 3.5% according to Medicare’s own estimate. The AMA is working to reverse those cuts.
“Meanwhile, Medicare Advantage plans are scheduled to receive an average payment increase of 4.33% from 2025 to 2026. Physicians, struggling to provide needed care to their elderly and chronically ill patients, can only dare to dream that they would be treated as generously as the increasingly profitable insurance companies.
“The Medicare payment system is broken. MedPAC has come up with a thoughtful response that heads in the right direction. Congress must prioritize Medicare reform this year. The status quo is unsustainable and unhealthy for our country.”
Media Contact:
About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.