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The American Medical Association and a chorus of physician groups Sunday decried what they say is ... [+] decision by the Republican-controlled Congress to allow a devastating cut in Medicare payments to physicians.
The American Medical Association and a chorus of physician groups decried what they say is a decision by the Republican-controlled Congress to allow a devastating cut in Medicare payments to physicians.
A funding bill released over the weekend by Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives will allow to go forward a 2.8 percent cut in payments physicians receive from the Medicare health insurance program to treat elderly patients.
With Donald Trump and his biggest campaign donor, the billionaire Elon Musk, already cutting federal health agency funding and Republicans looking at cuts to spending on Medicaid coverage for low-income Americans, doctors and hospitals fear the Medicare payment cut to physicians will certainly lead to closures of physician practices, clinics and hospitals, particularly in rural areas.
“Today’s decision to allow the 2.8 percent cut to go forward is particularly devastating for rural and underserved communities," AMA president Dr. Bruce Scott said Sunday. “These physicians and their patients have borne the brunt of the rising practice costs – 3.5 percent this year according to Medicare’s own estimate. When adjusted for inflation, Medicare payment to physician practices has dropped 33 percent since 2001. Let me be clear: these unsustainable cuts will force more practices to close and leave patients with fewer options for care.”
The decision to allow the cut to go forward was a shock to physician groups and Congressional observers. Less than two weeks ago, the AMA cheered bipartisan legislation to stop the cut plus language in a bill that would provide “a 2% payment update to help offset the rising costs of running a practice,” the AMA said in late February.
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