ACR concerned ‘waning’ congressional calendar could postpone efforts to avert radiologist pay cuts
As November quickly disappears, the American College of Radiology is expressing concern Congress is running out of time in 2021 to address looming physician pay cuts.
The feds first unveiled the final 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule on Nov. 2, outlining an estimated 10% in reimbursement reductions to the specialty and other providers. Physicians have lobbied fiercely against the changes, gaining the support of hundreds of members of the House.
But Congress has much larger concerns to tackle first, chief of which is the Biden administration’s signature Build Back Better bill, addressing a bevy of issues including climate change.
“While the ACR understands legislation to delay the cuts could emerge in the coming days, larger politics and a waning calendar may mean Congress does not stop them by Dec. 31, but possibly address them retroactively in 2022,” the college said in a Nov. 18 news update. “The ACR and other medical specialty associations will continue to advocate on their members’ behalf, however, to address these cuts prior to the end of the year.”
A soon-to-end moratorium on sequestration, the expiration of a 3.75% temporary provider pay bump enacted in late 2020, and pay-as-you-go budget rules all factor into the cuts. ACR and its coalition of clinicians is fighting to extend the 3.75% conversion factor increase. Meetings with lawmakers have “yielded several verbal commitments to address these pending cuts to protect patient access at care, especially as the nation emerges from a worldwide pandemic,” ACR added.
Meanwhile, the Medical Group Management Association also encouraged lawmakers to take action this week. In a Monday, Nov. 15, letter to the House Ways & Means Committee, MGMA urged representatives to host a hearing on the physician fee schedule ahead of the Jan 1. implementation date.
“We are hopeful that the committee can examine and prevent the payment cuts set to take effect next year, thereby protecting Medicare beneficiaries’ access to high-quality care,” wrote Anders Gilberg, senior VP of government affairs at MGMA, which represents more than 15,000 medical groups across specialties including radiology.
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.