Efforts to advance legislation to reverse Medicare payment cuts and adopt long-term reforms continue, with Congress taking several steps on one of neurosurgery’s top advocacy priorities.
- Physicians in Congress Lead Effort to Mitigate Payment Cuts. On Dec. 5, 2023, physician members of Congress introduced H.R. 6545, the Physician Fee Schedule Update and Improvements Act. Sponsored by Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD, (R-Iowa), Kim Schrier, MD, (D-Wash.) and others, this bipartisan bill would mitigate the 3.4% Medicare physician fee cut and modify elements of Medicare’s budget-neutrality rules and extend bonus payments to physicians participating in alternative payment models. The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced this bill on Dec. 6, 2023.
- Legislation to Halt the 3.4% Physician Payment Cut Introduced. On Dec. 7, 2023, a bipartisan group of legislators led by Reps. Greg Murphy, MD, (R-N.C.) and Danny Davis (D-Ill.) introduced the Preserving Seniors’ Access to Physicians Act (H.R. 6683). This bill would eliminate the scheduled 3.4% physician payment cut if enacted.
- House Members Urge Action on Medicare Physician Payment Cuts. On Dec. 13, 2023, a bipartisan group of 194 members of Congress wrote to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urging Congress to prevent the 3.37% cut to Medicare reimbursement payments.
As previously reported, additional legislation to provide an annual inflation-based update to Medicare physician payments and to reform Medicare’s budget-neutrality rules is also pending. The AANS and the CNS will continue their efforts to prevent Medicare cuts this year and adopt longer-term reforms. To this end, the neurosurgical societies joined two coalition efforts urging Congress to stop the 3.4% pay cut.
