The CAP, the American Medical Association (AMA), and over 130 medical professional societies asked Congress to pass legislation that provides an annual inflation-based payment update based on the full Medicare Economic Index (MEI). The MEI index legislation would be an inflation-based update solution to the ongoing problems plaguing the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MFS) and ongoing Medicare payment cuts to all physicians. The CAP continues to fight for fair pay for the value pathologists provide.

In the March 15 joint letter, the groups representing over 900,000 physicians, urged congressional leaders in both the House and Senate to pass legislation providing an annual inflation-based payment update automatically, averting the ongoing problem currently facing all physicians. The groups noted that Congress has acted and provided measures to mitigate Medicare payment cuts and health care access to patients. However, medical practice costs have outpaced the past solutions passed by Congress.

The groups emphasized that “implementing an inflation-based update based on only half of the full MEI growth rate would be a missed opportunity to meaningfully address this perennial issue of Medicare physician underpayment that threatens stable access to care for millions of Medicare beneficiaries.” Congress must pass a permanent solution to this ongoing problem, the letter said.

The letter pointed to the March 15 release of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) report recommending for the first time that Congress increase the 2024 Medicare physician payment rate above current law with an inflation-based payment update tied to the MEI. However, MedPAC’s recommendation only solves half of the problem as the practice expense component does not cover all practice costs. “Therefore, an inflation-based payment update is equally warranted for physician work and other aspects of total physician payment, all of which could be addressed by finalizing an update that is tied to full, rather than half, of MEI.”

The CAP and the groups asked that congressional leaders address these systemic problems with the Medicare physician payment system by passing legislation providing physicians with an annual inflation-based update tied to the MEI.