House passes reconciliation bill that includes radiologist Medicare pay hike
The U.S. House on Thursday passed a reconciliation bill that includes a pay hike for radiologists and other physicians under the Medicare program.
Lawmakers voted 215-214 to advance the measure to the Senate, where it will likely undergo further changes. As previously outlined, the final version has physicians receiving an annual update tied to the Medicare Economic Index, a measure of medical practice cost inflation currently at 3.5%.
For 2026, the update will be 75% of MEI and 10% every year from 2027 onward, according to KFF. The same schedule will apply to all Medicare providers, regardless of their participation in Advanced Alternative Payment Models.
Tying doc pay to annual cost increases is a change long lobbied for by the American Medical Association, which estimates physician pay has fallen 33% since 2001 when adjusting for inflation.
“The AMA appreciates that the bill adopted today addresses the problem of decreasing Medicare payment for physician services,” President Bruce A. Scott, MD, said in a statement May 22. “Continued cuts threaten access to care for America’s seniors, and the inclusion of an update for 2026 that partially accounts for inflation is an important step. This must, however, represent only the first step to ensuring that Medicare payments keep up with inflation over the long term, as they do for other Medicare providers.”
Cause for concern
Physician, hospital and patient advocacy groups, meanwhile, expressed concern about other provisions in the budget bill. It will cut $700 billion from the Medicaid program over the next decade, accomplished by requiring beneficiaries to log work, education and volunteering hours with their state, Healthcare Dive noted.
Roughly 7.6 million Americans are projected to lose coverage under the safety-net payment program, according to the Congressional Budget Office. And the number is likely higher following final amendments ahead of the bill’s passage. Another 4 million individuals would lose coverage from provisions restricting enrollment in marketplace plans sold through the Affordable Care Act, according to the CBO.
“The sheer magnitude of the level of reductions to the Medicaid program alone will impact all patients, not just Medicaid beneficiaries, in every community across the nation,” American Hospital Association CEO Rick Pollack said in a statement. “Hospitals—especially in rural and underserved areas—will be forced to make difficult decisions about whether they will have to reduce services, reduce staff and potentially consider closing their doors.”
The AMA’s Scott said the physician society believes federal programs should seek to “facilitate and maintain enrollment” and not “erect bureaucratic barriers to care.”
“As the bill moves forward, we urge the Senate to take the necessary steps to ensure that efforts to address waste, fraud and abuse do not result in millions of patients losing access to coverage,” he added.
Breast care advocacy group Susan G. Komen said Thursday it is “deeply troubled” by the bill’s passage. Combined with the failure to renew healthcare tax credits, an estimated 14 million Americans could lose coverage, increasing the uninsured rate to 30%. Medicaid and the ACA marketplaces often serve as a “lifeline” for women seeking mammography screenings and subsequent treatment. Over 72 million individuals now rely on Medicaid, and 1 in 10 adults with a history of cancer utilize the program.
“This health coverage is essential to ensuring timely access to breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment—care that might otherwise be delayed until the disease is more advanced and expensive to treat,” SGK said in a statement May 22. “Komen urges Congress to do better for the breast cancer community and asks the Senate to reject the policies which will hurt breast cancer patients, survivors and many other Americans when they consider the budget reconciliation bill next,” it added later.
Rep. Ami Bera, MD, D-Calif., a physician advocate in the House, also criticized the bill Thursday, calling it “deeply irresponsible.” By eliminating insurance coverage for millions, the measure “threatens access to care” in rural and underserved areas while raising costs for the poorest 10% of households.
“As a doctor, I’ve cared for patients who rely on Medicaid to manage chronic illnesses, get preventive care and keep their children healthy,” Bera said in a statement. “These cuts would devastate our healthcare system—driving up uncompensated care costs, increasing strain on hospitals and clinics and leading to more patients showing up in emergency rooms sicker and more expensive to treat. It’s a step backward that will worsen health outcomes and raise costs for everyone.”
On the other side, Rep. Greg Murphy, MD, R-N.C., another doc advocate in the House, praised the bill’s passage. He highlighted provisions that will preserve and expand tax cuts, enact “pro-growth policies that allow businesses to thrive,” and avert “drastic Medicare reimbursement cuts” for physicians.
“This bill is the product of a united and diverse Republican Conference that is committed to putting the American people and our country first,” Murphy said in a statement May 22. “As the Senate considers this package, I urge it to uphold the meaningful spending cuts we made to promote fiscal responsibility.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.