The American Medical Association (AMA) is pleading with Congress to fix a Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) report that could endanger patient access to high-quality care.
The MedPAC reports the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on physician practices, but it recommends that there be a continuation of the freeze in Medicare physician fee payment. According to the AMA, the impact of the pandemic is leading one in five physicians to consider leaving their practice within the next two years. High workload, high level of burnout, stress and risk of contracting COVID-19 are significant reasons behind this phenomenon.
"It is urgent that Congress work with the physician community to develop solutions to the systematic problems with the Medicare physician payment system and preserve patient access to care," AMA said in its letter to Congress. "At a minimum, Congress must establish a stable, annual Medicare physician payment update that keeps pace with inflation and practice costs and allows for innovation to ensure Medicare patients continue to have access to physician practice-based care."
According to an analysis of data from the Medicare Trustees, Medicare physician payments have dropped by 20% since 2001, not including the recent inflation spike. The letter to Congress also stated that the Medicare physician payment system lacks an update to the annual physician payment system.
In 2020, there had been a 14%, or nearly $14 billion, reduction in Medicare physician's fee schedule spending as patients delayed treatments.
AMA pointed out that "freezing physician payment is also impossible to reconcile when viewed against the nearly 8% payment increase the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services projects for Medicare Advantage plans in 2023." AMA also attached data from Medicare Trustees, indicating that Medicare physician pay has increased only 11% over the last 20 years, or 0.5% per year on average, one-third of which is the temporary 3.75% update for 2021 that will expire this year.
