Dear Congressional Leadership,
On behalf of the 21 undersigned organizations representing surgeons and anesthesiologists across the
United States, we strongly urge you to take action before Congress adjourns for the year to prevent
devastating Medicare physician payment cuts scheduled to be implemented on January 1, 2021. We
understand that the year‐end legislative package is still coming together and may incorporate COVID‐19
relief — including additional funds for the Provider Relief Fund (PRF). To this end, we recommend that
you specifically allocate PRF resources to offset the costs associated with preventing these Medicare
cuts prior to taking effect.
Surgeons and anesthesiologists across the country are still struggling with the financial impact of COVID
-19. As the pandemic continues to rage throughout the country, hospitals are once again at capacity, and
surgeons are forced to suspend elective and non‐essential services. It will be at least one or two years
before surgical practices fully recover from the economic effects of the pandemic, and surgeons and
anesthesiologists simply cannot absorb additional Medicare payment cuts, which could jeopardize
patient access to medically necessary services.
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