Tell Congress to Fix Medicare Physician Payment!

Background:

Since 2001, the cost of operating a medical practice has increased 47%. During this time, hospital and nursing facility Medicare updates resulted in a roughly 70% increase in reimbursements, significantly outpacing physician reimbursement. Adjusted for inflation in practice costs, Medicare physician reimbursement declined 30% from 2001 to 2024. In the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed changes that would result in a 2.8% cut to Medicare physician payment. Congress must pass legislation providing physicians with a long overdue payment update reflective of inflationary pressures and simultaneously eliminate the proposed cut of 2.8%.

What you can do:

Urge your Representative to sign a letter to congressional leadership asking to provide physicians with a desperately needed Medicare payment increase update reflective of inflationary pressures associated with running a medical practice. This update must also eliminate the 2025 payment cut proposed by the CMS. The letter to congressional leadership is led by Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Ami Bera, MD (D-CA), Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN), Greg Murphy, MD (R-NC), Raul Ruiz, MD (D-CA), John Joyce, MD, FAAD (R-PA), and Kim Schrier, MD (D-WA).

Why it matters:

A lopsided payment system, in which Medicare physician reimbursement does not keep pace with inflation, threatens the viability of medical practices, especially smaller, independent, physician-owned practices. This is the fifth consecutive year that CMS has issued a fee schedule that cuts payment to physicians. Patients cannot afford to lose access to care if physicians close their doors due to these cuts.