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- Reconciliation's impact on health care
House committees are marking up budget reconciliation legislation this week as Republican leadership aims for a floor vote by Memorial Day.
Why it matters: The proposal would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid and increase the number of uninsured patients by millions, according to a CBO analysis.
- Some Republicans say the proposal doesn’t go far enough, while Democrats will oppose any cuts to the entitlement program.
- The CAP signed a letter to lawmakers regarding concerns over the Medicaid proposal.
On Medicare, the House bill includes physician fee schedule updates based on the Medicare Economic Index (MEI), which continues to be a legislative priority for the CAP.
- However, the impact to Medicare pay is less than what a key advisory panel recommends.
- For 2026, the bill provides an update of 75% of the MEI, amounting to a 1.73% pay increase next year, according to CAP estimates.
- For 2027 and beyond, the bill ties 10% of the MEI to increase pay for future years. While the establishment of a regular inflationary update is significant, linking future updates to 10% of MEI would not keep pace with inflation.
What's next: The CAP is actively engaged in federal budget discussions to represent the interests of pathologists, and we’ll provide additional updates.
Go deeper: Read a summary of the bill from the House Energy and Commerce Committee.