The American College of Radiology is leading a coalition of providers hoping to convince U.S. lawmakers to extend a Medicare pay sweetener through 2023.
Congress originally enacted the 3.75% temporary increase in the physician fee schedule conversion factor in December, averting payment cuts tied to budget neutrality. But this add-on is set to expire on Jan. 1, 2022, advocates noted on Friday.
ACR — alongside 108 other medical societies representing more than 1 million providers — want this lifeline “for healthcare providers still reeling” from the pandemic extended at least through 2023.
“Moving forward, Congress must recognize the need for critical reforms to the [Medicare Physician Fee Schedule] system, including addressing the budget neutrality requirement, which can lead to arbitrary reductions to reimbursement unrelated to the cost of providing care,” the groups wrote in a July 23 letter to House and Senate leaders. “Maintaining this level of funding will ensure physicians and other healthcare providers can continue to provide high-quality care focused on engaging patients, increasing the delivery of integrated, team-based care, expanding chronic disease management, and reducing hospital admission/readmission rates for beneficiaries residing in the community as well as those in long-term nursing facilities,” they added later.
The letter echoes similar recent comments from the American Medical Association, which in its own July 21 request to Congress expressed “deepening alarm” over physician pay cuts. AMA also signed Friday’s letter alongside the Radiology Business Management Association, American Society of Neuroradiology, the Society of Interventional Radiology and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.
ACR said Monday that it will work alongside these organizations to educate Congress about the extension and its role in “protecting access to timely healthcare.”
“Millions of seniors rely on the Medicare program, and we must work to ensure it remains a robust and dependable option for those who need it the most,” ACR et al. wrote.
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.