At the American Medical Association (AMA) National Advocacy Conference February 23-24, physicians asked federal legislators to relieve the financial burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic by stopping Medicare sequester cuts scheduled to go into effect April 1. The CAP supports the AMA in these efforts as pathologists faced financial hardships during the pandemic, as documented by several surveys throughout 2020.
During the AMA National Advocacy Conference, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) discussed the challenges faced by small physician practices in rural and underserved areas. Sen. Shaheen said the Medicare Advance and Accelerated Payments and other programs have been helpful. Still, more work is needed to ensure practice sustainability—including extending the moratorium on the 2% Medicare sequestration cuts currently scheduled to go into effect April 1—a top AMA priority. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) also expressed the need to prevent across-the-board Medicare sequester cuts and touted his AMA-supported legislation to address the issue.
The AMA, the CAP, and 127 medical and state organizations lobbied Congress to relieve the financial burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic on physicians during the current national emergency. In a February 12 letter to congressional leaders in the House and the Senate, the CAP joined the groups to support legislation that would suspend a 2% across-the-board Medicare budget sequester cut. The CAP supported similar efforts over the past year to stop Medicare cuts and protect pathology services’ value. Without additional action, the 2% Medicare cut to physician services will go into effect on April 1.