- The Honorable Ron Wyden
Chairman Committee on Finance
U. S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510 - The Honorable Mike Crapo
Ranking Member
Committee on Finance
U. S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Wyden and Ranking Member Crapo:
On behalf of the undersigned organizations representing key stakeholders in the surgical care of Medicare beneficiaries, we write to commend you for the release of the document titled “Bolstering Chronic Care through Physician Payment: Current Challenges and Policy Options in Medicare Part B” and to offer you our initial surgical community response.
The surgeon and anesthesiologist members of our organizations provide lifesaving and life-improving care to millions of Medicare beneficiaries each year. Yet, these highly-trained physicians continue to struggle with a broken Medicare payment system. During the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) era and more recently since the inception of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), our members have faced year after year of unsustainable Medicare payment rates. Currently, our members face the unfulfilled promises of the MACRA Quality Payment Program (QPP), a program intended to give physicians the opportunity to receive payment bonuses for demonstrating improved quality of care. As implemented, the program remains unworkable for many in the surgical community. The opportunities to participate in the QPP program are minimal, and, in most cases, physician practices are obligated to meet burdensome and costly administrative requirements to earn negligible bonus payments. Few in our community view MACRA as a success.
Click here to view the full AANS and CNS Urge Senate to Improve Medicare Payment System.
