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CALL TO ACTION: Tell Lawmakers to Cancel the Physician Payment Cut
On January 1, 2024, a 3.37 percent across-the-board cut to Medicare physician payments took effect. A cut of this magnitude will have ripple effects across the entire healthcare system. There is, however, an opportunity for the payment cut to be cancelled. Bipartisan legislation introduced at the end of 2023 – H.R. 6683, the Preserving Seniors' Access to Physicians Act – would eliminate the entire payment cut.
Lawmakers must be persuaded to take action. Congress must hear from their physician constituents now.
Why the urgency? Congress is currently facing a deadline of January 19 to pass a spending bill and avoid a partial government shutdown. ASNC is urging all U.S. members to contact Congress. No matter where you deliver care, ask your lawmakers to include H.R. 6683 in a fiscal year 2024 spending package.
The easiest and most efficient way for you to contact Congress is by sending an email through ASNC's Action Center. The Action Center provides a template message that you may send as-is or personalize as you like. The important thing is for Congress to hear from many individual physicians and practices from all across the U.S. now. CONTACT CONGRESS NOW.
What Will Happen Next?
- If Congress does NOT act promptly to cancel the pay cut, Medicare physician fees will be reduced by 3.37 percent for the remainder of 2024. This is due to budget-neutrality requirements in the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule's final rule.
- If Congress acts to cancel the cut, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will update payment files and reprocess claims as necessary.
Always working for you,
The ASNC Team