New Proposed Congressional Bill Would Offset Upcoming Medicare Payment Cut

New legislation, H.R. 10073, would give physicians a 4.73% payment increase next year, offsetting the 2.8% Medicare reimbursement cut expected to be finalized by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this week.  The bipartisan legislation includes a partial inflation adjustment to help offset rising practice costs, which is equal to 50% of the Medicare Economic Index (MEI), which tracks inflation based on practice costs and wages, for one year in 2025. The legislation was introduced by Reps. Greg Murphy (NC), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA), Larry Bucshon (IN) and John Joyce (PA), Jimmy Panetta (CA), Ami Bera (CA), Raul Ruiz (CA), and Kim Schrier (WA).

This legislation follows a formal communications by a bipartisan group of more than 200 lawmakers who urged Congress to stop the impending Medicare payment cuts earlier this month. In the letter, the 233 lawmakers urge House leadership to “expeditiously pass legislative fixes that not only stop another damaging round of cuts to Medicare payments, but also provide greater certainty and stability for clinicians serving Medicare beneficiaries.”

ASA continues to support reversing the pending January 1, 2025 Medicare physician payment cut and adding a mandatory annual inflation adjustment to physician payment rates. ASA urges Congress to act swiftly to address this issue in the coming weeks.