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- AMA, CAP and Over 120 Medical Associations Call for Congress to Stop 2023 Medicare Cuts
The CAP, the American Medical Association (AMA), and over 120 national and state medical professional groups urged congressional leadership to stabilize the Medicare physician payment system and stop reimbursement cuts in 2023. Throughout 2022, the CAP has urged Congress to mitigate the upcoming Medicare cuts. The CAP advocates for protecting the value of pathology services and fights against Medicare cuts to pathologists.
In the September 22 letter to congressional leadership, the group outlined how the proposed 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule would cut the Medicare conversion factor by approximately 4.5%, which does not account for inflation. As a result, nationwide, physician practices face statutory payment cuts without annual inflationary updates, along with significant administrative barriers, while still dealing with staffing and medical supply issues resulting from the pandemic.
In the letter, the group stated that “according to an AMA analysis of Medicare Trustees data, Medicare physician payment has been reduced 20% adjusted for inflation from 2001–2021. The Medicare physician payment system lacks an adequate annual physician payment update, unlike those that apply to other Medicare provider payments. Physicians are the only Medicare provider not receiving an inflationary update in 2023.”
The AMA and the groups urged Congress to:
- Provide relief from the scheduled -4.42% budget neutrality cut in Medicare physician fee schedule payments.
- End the statutory annual pay freeze and provide a Medicare Economic Index (MEI) update for the coming year.
- Extend the 5% Advanced Alternative Payment Model (AAPM) participation incentive and halt the impossible-to-meet revenue threshold increase for five years to encourage more physicians to transition from fee-for-service into APMs.
- Waive a 4% PAYGO sequester also set to take effect next year.