The Ongoing Fight to Stop Medicare Physician Cuts
ASPS has a longstanding history of advocating for fair Medicare reimbursement for physicians. Recently the Society found itself fighting harmful cuts again, 然而, the source of the reductions was unexcepted – the $1.9万亿年 美国救市计划.
背景:触发的现收现付
When President Biden signed the 美国救市计划 3月成为法律, many providers found cause for celebration, as it included provisions designed to keep their patients safe and prevent their practices from closing. 然而, the package has also delivered unintended consequences with significant implications for the physician community.
巨大的成本 美国救市计划 《 Pay As You Go (PAYGO) Act of 2010, which prohibits new legislation changing taxes, 费用, or mandatory expenditures from increasing projected federal deficits. In the event that a policy does increase the deficit, across-the-board cuts in selected mandatory programs are automatically set into motion. Set to take effect on September 30, 2022, the cuts triggered by the 美国救市计划 include spending reductions in Medicare of an estimated 4% or $36 billion.
一个持续的斗争
在这次打击之前, providers were already operating under threat of an across-the-board 2% cut to Medicare – known as sequestration – which Congress previously suspended through March 31, 2021. 自从通过 美国救市计划, ASPS has worked diligently to prevent the 2% cuts to physicians' Medicare payments, which were scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2021.
In anticipation of the cuts taking effect, the Society submitted comments to Congress calling for Medicare sequestration relief during the pandemic, and ASPS staff aggressively advocated on the issue in meetings with 成员 of Congress, including those on the prominent House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means 委员会.
When Congress failed to meet the April 1 deadline to prevent Medicare sequestration, CMS announced a temporary pause on the processing of claims after April 1 in anticipation that Congress would soon address the issue. ASPS provided notice of the agency's action via a 整形手术的消息 给所有美国人的特别公报.S. 成员.
When the Senate took action on the issue and passed legislation to stop the 2% cut, ASPS quickly mobilized 成员 via a grassroots alert to 成员 asking surgeons to contact 成员 of the House and ask them to act urgently and pass the bill.
4月14日, the Society's efforts and those of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine were rewarded as the House voted to pass the measure, eliminating the 2% cut to all Medicare payments through the end of 2021. To offset the cost of this moratorium, the bill increases the fiscal year 2030 sequester cuts. Soon after, President Biden signed the bill into law.
A long history of standing up to Medicare cuts
ASPS's advocacy on sequestration and PAYGO is just the latest example in a long line of efforts to combat Medicare cuts to physicians. ASPS was one of the few physician groups to oppose the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), 以及最近, the Society joined a broad coalition of physician groups that successfully secured the adoption of provisions in the end-of-the-year spending package that would stop an approximate 7% cut to plastic surgery. ASPS has also worked with the Alliance of Specialty Medicine to call on key House and Senate healthcare committees to consider greater reforms to MACRA.
前方的道路
Despite the 2% Medicare sequestration moratorium, a clear path to addressing the larger PAYGO 4% Medicare cut remains elusive. In a recent letter to Congressional leadership, ASPS and other Alliance of Specialty Medicine 成员 urged lawmakers to act quickly to extend the moratorium on the Medicare sequester and act to prevent mandatory PAYGO cuts, including the 4% Medicare spending sequestration, 源于 美国救市计划.
ASPS and its partners will continue to fight for physicians' rates to ensure they are dictated by fair market prices rather than politics